Hidden Blade
by Shadow knight1121
Summary: Jayden Warney has fled from Gotham humiliated and ashamed. He vowed never to pick up his blade again, until a green hooded vigilante starts to bring trouble on his door step. Now Jayden has decided to bring his darker self to Starling City as well. Armed with his blade of darkness he would bring the justice this city deserved. (OliverxSara)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: New Start**

**Authors Note: HI everybody! I am here and with Arrow. I am using my character along with a few oc's from my original stories. I hope you all enjoy. :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

My jet hadn't even landed before reporters and news cameras had started running towards my plane. I roll my eyes, thankful that I had most of my belongings already moved to Starling City beforehand.

Once the plane was officially grounded I grabbed my large black case and waited for the pilot to open the door. The second it opened I made my way outside and through the crowd, trying like hell not to react to their crude comments and questions.

"_Mr. Warney, why did you leave Gotham?"_

"_Is it because of the rise in vigilantism?"_

"_I heard it was because of that accident involving Barbara Gordon."_

That last comment made me want to put that slimly little bastard into the ground, but the last thing I wanted was to start causing trouble right after getting off of the plane. I just continued walking as I made my way towards the black limo. The driver opened the door for me, and exchanged a brief nod with him, before stepping inside.

"How was your flight?"

I looked up at the smug smile of Malcolm Merlyn and shrug my shoulders at his question.

"Rather dull." I look out my window at all of the reporters swarming around the car like bees. "Why the hell are these ass hats here?"

"It isn't often that a rich playboy from Gotham just decides to up and move from Gotham to Starling." Malcolm explained. "Not to mention Oliver Queen." I raise an eyebrow.

"I thought he was dead?"

"Apparently when his yacht sunk he washed up on an island and spent the last five years alone, before being picked up by some fishermen."

"So rich playboys are all the rage in this city?" I asked rhetorically.

"Apparently, now how about we get some lunch and we can discuss further business."

"Sounds good."

(!)

Malcolm picked an exclusive restaurant of course, and we ordered our food. He also asked that we sit in a booth far in the back of the restaurant. We had important business to talk about and not just my stake in his company.

"So, I set up a warehouse for you to continue your weapons research." Malcolm explained. "It is in a private and secure area, so you can work in peace."

"Thank you, but I am working on more than just safety features for weapons," I explained. "I am trying to make the world a better place." Malcolm smiled and raised his wine glass to his lips.

"Oh I know…Sparrow." He grinned taking a sip. I flinched at the old alias my mentor had given me, but I have put that in the past. Those days are behind me.

"It's Jayden now Malcolm. Jayden Warney." I snapped. "I don't call you the magician."

"Fair enough." He nodded. "So, what really happened to you in Gotham?" He asked. I shake my head.

"It was…nothing." I say in a shaky voice. "I was just outmatched."

"Outmatched?" Malcolm asked in disbelief. "Who could outmatch you, was it a league member?"

"No, he was…something else, something much more…darker. It doesn't matter anymore." I finish up my food and get up from my seat. "Look enough with our side projects. Let's focus on our current objectives. Didn't you say that you had my penthouse ready for me?"

"Yes of course. We can discuss business more tomorrow." He paid for the food and we made our way out.

(!)

Malcolm and I exchanged our farewells and parted ways for the evening. Malcolm told me he had everything packed up and shipped here last night and I made my way to the top floor.

The penthouse had everything packed up and set up from Gotham. Things like my paintings, my antiques, and my furniture. My more personal belongings I kept with me at all times. This had my more personal belongings.

When I made sure I was alone I unlocked my case and opened it up and reminisced through my belongings. I start to take things out like my tattered black sneaking suit, my dirty .44 python, my broken sword, and of course the red hood.

I hold the hood out to get a better look at it. This was a something I wanted to get rid of, but I would regret the next day. This hood was not just a mask. It was a reminder of how much of a failure I truly was.

(Five years ago)

My dad had picked me up from the police station that night. A few people, who I had the misfortune to call my friends, all went joyriding in his new Lamborghini and ended up nearly hitting some old lady crossing the street. I had caught the wheel in time and saved her, but the car was wreaked and I nearly busted my face open from the crash.

Everyone was alright, but I don't think I would be seeing the light of day for a long time. I walked next to my dad for a while until we were far away from the police station. I waited for dad to yell at me when we were far away from the station, but he just continued walking.

"Okay come on dad," I snapped at him. "You haven't looked at me or said anything in over an hour!"

"It wasn't your fault. Your friends got drunk and almost committed a hit n run and you saved that poor old woman's life." He didn't look to good. He actually looked like he was disturbed by something other than me.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, but we do need to talk."

I was confused, until he grabbed me by my shoulder and pulled me into an alleyway. He grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me against the wall.

"What the hell?" I snapped at him, but he slapped his hand over my mouth, silencing me.

"Shut up and listen," He looked around with fear in his eyes. Something bad was about to happen, if it wasn't happening already. "I've done my best to raise you, but all of your life I have been lying to you. Wayne Enterprise's board of directors has been corrupt for the past thirty years. It's what got the Wayne's killed and my wife and my son."

My eyes widened and I rip my dad's iron grip off of my mouth.

"Dad, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Gotham's greed, it's the sickness that plagues this city. The Wayne's were killed because of it and now I'm about to be as well."

"Dad…"

"That's what I am telling you kid, I am not your father."

My blood went cold from what he had just told me and I didn't know what to say. I tried to ask him what he was talking about, but I never got the chance.

A man from out of the darkness crept up behind him and pointed something at the back of his head. The moon light shined down on it, revealing itself to be a .44 python.

The gunshot echoed throughout the alleyway and my father's blood splattered all over my face.

(Present)

I dropped the hood back into the case and slammed it shut. I needed to get the hell out of here for a while. I started to pace around my house until I realize that the television was on. It was another news bulletin on Oliver Queen's welcome home party. Apparently anyone who was anyone would be there.

What the hell. I'm rich and hopefully it's an open bar, I need a few dozen drinks.

(!)

The host wasn't even here yet and already the party was wild. I ordered a second Jack Daniels and checked out the club scene.

Starling City, what a joke, this place wasn't anywhere near as rough as Gotham. These jokers dance like they don't have a care in the world. Why would they, they are either kids who come from lawyers, cooperate executives, and egotistical tyrants.

"Jayden Wayne?"

Speak of the devil. I turn and smile at the young man.

"Tommy Merlyn." I reach for his hand and shake it. I knew Tommy from his dad. We met a few times, but that was only when he needed money from his father. He and Oliver were damn near inseparable according to his father.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in years, how have you been?" He asked. He didn't really care, but he probably didn't want his dad giving him crap for not inviting me or something.

"I'm fine I have been working for the past few years something you wouldn't know about." I joke as he laughs sarcastically. "So, where is the man of the hour?"

"Speak of the devil." Tommy looks over at the stairs leading down to the dance floor and I follow his gaze as well and spot the man of the hour, Oliver Queen.

He looked a lot older and mature than the last time I saw him. His hair was shorter and his build was more muscular. I guess five years on a god forsaken rock would change anyone. Tommy threw an arm around his shoulder and motioned for the DJ to cut the music. The club went silent as Tommy threw an arm around his best friend.

"Man of the hour!" He shouted, causing everyone to cheer. "Give this man a proper home coming."

Oliver made his way through his adoring fans of party goers and playgirls and stood in the center of the dance floor and raised a shot glass.

"I missed Tequila!" He shouted. Everyone cheered and the DJ lit up the music again.

I shook my head in annoyance and just continued drinking. After a while the alcohol started to take over and I was in the center of the dance floor, grinding with whatever girl came my way. In the drunken haze of the crowd I couldn't find our gracious host. He was probably off nailing that girl who looked like she was from Twilight.

While I was mingling with this one girl I started to get pissed off when the music was abruptly cut off.

"Starling City Police!" A gruff voice shouted out. "Party's over, kids."

All of the contenders, myself included started booing at the police. I stumbled over to Tommy and we watched one of the detectives make his way over to us.

"Oh, Mr. Merlyn. Imagine my shock to find you here." The detective practically snarled at Tommy. "What did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?" Tommy only chuckled at the insult before our host greeted the detectives.

"Detective." Oliver greeted as he made his way through the crowd. "It's a private party."

"Yeah?" He asked rhetorically. "Well, there was an incident over at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" Oliver just shrugged his shoulders.

"Who's Adam Hunt?"

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprise you aren't friends." The detective insinuated. Oliver just stood there smiling.

"Well I've been out of town for…awhile."

"Yeah, well he just got attack by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day." I glanced between the detective and Oliver.

A guy in a hood was going around attacking people. I hadn't even heard that Oliver was abducted. Malcolm sure as hell never mentioned that his son was kidnapped. Why didn't he tell me?

"The Hood Guy?" Oliver asked. "You didn't find him? I'm gonna offer a reward." Oliver turned to the crowd. "Hey everybody. Two million dollars to anyone who can find a nut bar in a green hood."

And now his favorite color was green apparently. I would definitely look into this later tonight. I looked back at Oliver to see that the detective was getting a little too close to him.

"Did you even try to save her?" He asked in a calm, but furious tone. "Did you even try to save my daughter?"

"Let's go, partner. Sarah wouldn't want this?" His partner calmly pulled the detective away before disappearing into the crowd. I looked back at Oliver and Tommy who both had grim expressions on their faces. This would be another thing to look into.

Oliver stood up on one of the podiums and held his arms out.

"It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!"

Everyone started to cheer and dance again, but I think my buzz was starting to wear down.

I was about to leave, but I bumped into someone again.

"Sorry," We both said in unison. When we met eyes I was surprised to see that it was Oliver. "Oh, hey, you probably don't remember me?"

"Jayden Warney." He smiled and offered me his hand. I reached out and shook it. "I don't think we have ever met."

"No, I started doing business with Malcolm about two years ago while you were on the island."

"Of course, I heard you made your way all the way here from Gotham." He commented. "Why did you leave?"

"Eh, needed a change of scenery I guess." I shrugged. "Why?"

"Well you know I have been reading up on some things. Like how certain criminals had acquired your army issued assault rifles and armor piercing ammo." What the hell, who was this guy to judge me on crap I hadn't even done on purpose and how the hell would he know about my business after being on Gilligan's Island for five years.

"I'll have you know, that one of my corrupt business partners had stolen and sold them without my knowledge." I say with a fake smile across my face. "I mean, it has been dealt with by me personally, of course."

"Yes, they found him dead on top of his car, after being thrown out of a five story building."

"Yes, well business like that is rough, but it is business. Doing drugs, spending daddy's cash and being a dead beat boyfriend, is not good business." It was his turn to scowl.

"That's not who I am anymore." He grunted.

"No, it is who you were though, and from what I just saw with that cop I don't think everybody forgot who you were. Question is who are you now?"

"None of your business who I am."

"You made it my business when you harassed me on my career choice. Do you even have any idea what you are going to do now that daddy is gone?" A small twitch appeared in the corner of Oliver's eye. He was trying like hell not to hit me, probably didn't want to damage his suit. It didn't matter to me. I could easily waste him if I wanted.

"Have a nice night. I have got work to do."

I pushed past him and got the hell out of that club.

(!)

Later that night I buried myself and both the internet and coffee. I wanted to know more about the scum in this town.

Adam Hunt was of course the kind of scum who would sell his own mother for a few bucks. And according to all of the charges he was facing, he had embezzled forty million dollars out of his employees and clients.

So where was it?

I hacked his account and discovered that there wasn't a penny left. Hunt didn't have anything to his name, especially since I just bought his company not ten minutes after it was declared bankrupt.

Whoever this Hood guy was he knew what he was doing.

I started going on a binge search on who this guy is, and what he wanted. His first attempt was saving Queen and Merlyn. A few mercenaries kidnapped them for a ransom, and this guy killed every single one of them.

A vigilante no doubt, but the difference between yesterday and today were the methods in which they were done.

The kidnappers were killed by means of close quarters combat, due to the stab wounds and broken necks. Tonight he used a bow and arrow. Why the change in weapons?

"Hmm..." There wasn't much more to go on in this guy's case, so I continue on my third project. "Sarah Lance."

That detective was her father, Quentin Lance and has an older sister Laurel Lance, a lawyer.

Apparently she and Oliver were having an affair, but she ended up going down with the ship. I guess I couldn't blame the detective for being pissed at Oliver.

If I had a child I would destroy the bastard who had harmed them.

With nothing left to go on I turned off my laptop and made my way to my bedroom. I started to hate this city when I arrived, but now things were starting to get interesting. I pull the covers off of my bed and pull a glock 17 out of my nightstand and slip it under my pillow.

I can't sleep without some added security.

Gotham has made me paranoid like that.

(Flash back)

I sat there for ten minutes with my father's head in my lap. The man who had killed him was lying on his side with my dad's business pen in his jugular. He just came out of nowhere and had killed my father like it was nothing. I wanted him dead, and I had killed him in cold blood.

"Holy hell, hey over here!" I looked over at the cop who was standing over me as a few more made their way over to me.

"What happened?" One of the cops asked.

"He killed him, I think."

"Damn, his throat his really torn up. How many times did he stab him?"

I stabbed him seven times. His blood is splattered on my face and smeared on my hand.

The sick part wasn't that I didn't feel a thing, the sick part was that I felt a little satisfied.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: City of Angels **

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews and follows. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

(Five Years Ago)

I sat at Gordon's desk for ten minutes before he and his partner came by to see me.

"You're not out the door for five minutes and you were already getting into trouble." Bullock grunted. "I mean what the hell?"

"Bullock, don't," Gordon warned. "We know this has been rough for you, but I need to know if you're capable to answer some questions."

Truth be told, I didn't feel much of anything. I actually kind of wish I had ran away when I had the chance. I looked up at Gordon and gave him a small nod.

"Okay, before you…did you know who the man was?" He asked timidly. I guess he didn't want to risk setting me off.

"No, I've never seen him before in my life." I told them honestly. This was Gotham after all. He could have just been picked off of a parolee list.

"Did he ask for any money?"

Gordon already knew this was a hired hit. No petty burglar would just shoot a man point blank in the head, especially down the street from a police station. Whoever did this, they wanted it to be noticed as soon as possible.

"No, I didn't even know he was there until he pulled the trigger."

"Is there anyone looking to hurt you?"

Before he died, my father gave me a flash drive. My hand is gripping it inside of my pocket as we speak. I didn't know what was on it, but my dad gave it to me for a reason. A reason I would soon find out.

"No, look I'm not going to be much help, can I go home now?"

"Afraid not," Gordon said, shaking his head. "You see you are technically a minor, so we can't send you on your own yet."

"Bull crap, I am out of here." I got up from my seat and was about to head out when I was stopped by a few officers. I looked at them, feeling my anger broiling inside of me and tearing away at my heart.

One of them placed his hands of his hips and I knew he was gesturing to his gun on his hip. I was tempted, but I wasn't stupid. I sat back down on my chair and waited for what comes next.

(Present)

"What do you think?" Malcolm asks as he shows me my new work space. We decided to take a trip down to the warehouse districts. They are mostly used to hold Malcolm's more personal items, but he managed to renovate one of them to accommodate my needs.

"It's bigger than I expected." I commented. Merlyn smiled and motioned to the wide open area.

"You said you would need a large amount of space for your vehicle testing and firing range."

"True, it's fine though, seriously." I walked over to a large table where a lot of my tools and schematics laid out for me. "I can get a lot of work done here."

"What are you going to be working on first?" He asked. "More weapons?"

"Nah, my contracts want more mod upgrades." I explained while looking through my schematics. "Density scopes, smaller infantry drones and of course a new car I have been working on."

"Yes, I had heard that you were taking a break from guns and explosives, but aren't gadgets a little too complex for you?"

"I'll manage. Hey, what do you know about Oliver Queen?"

"Just that he is best friends with my son, why?" He asked a little more baffled than he let on.

"He gave me shit the other night for my work, and for a guy who spent most of his life partying and the past few years on a rock drinking coconuts I am a little confused as to how he knows so much about my work."

"You think I told him, I haven't spoken to him once since he came back."

"And I take it you and your son, aren't exactly buddy and pal." I tease, causing him to look a little uneasy. "Aw come on I was joking."

"No, you are right about me and my son, but you are also raising a good point. Maybe he decided to take an interest since you arrived. He is getting his death certificate repealed. His mother and step-father wanted him to take a stake in the company as well."

"So, I don't work for Queens Consolidated, and I never even met any of those people. So, why the hell is he acting like a dick to me?"

"I couldn't tell you Jayden, maybe you should ask him yourself." He announced in an annoyed tone of voice. I was about to retort when his cell phone started buzzing. "Sorry, business as usual. I'll leave you too it. I do expect good things from you Jayden."

"And you will get them." I shout out as he exited the building.

I start to work on my latest gadgets. Hopefully Uncle Sam will like them enough to mass produce them on a larger scale. I work as the TV is blaring in the background. I am not really watching I just keep it on for white noise. That is until I hear the latest news bulletin

A man by the name of Martin Somers was being convicted of drug peddling and murder, but judging from the smug look on his face he wasn't going to be on trial for much longer. When a man is facing life in prison there is nothing they won't do to ensure their freedom, even if it means axing off the daughter of a detective.

What did I care though, none of my business anymore. Still wouldn't hurt to take a look.

(!)

I drove out to Laurel Lance's apartment building and parked on the side of the road. I reached into the back seat and grabbed my brief case and set it on my lap. I opened up and activated the control console for my infantry drone, The Fly.

I pressed a few buttons on my switch board and listened to the small hum of the mini propellers in my drone activate. I watched with glee as my creation hovered before me with my image on the screen of my console.

I slowly gripped the controls and guided my drone out of my car and up to Lance's apartment. I slowly flew in through the window near her fire escape and slowly flew around her house. I kept high to the ceiling to avoid being heard, not that I could be with my technology, but a fly can be heard in a quiet room.

I set my earpiece on, and flew into the living and surprise, Oliver Queen was with her. I watched as the two ate ice cream and made idle chit chat about Oliver and his future or some shit. What did I care it was none of my business. None of this was, so why am I even doing this?

I let out a heavy sigh and just mentally kicked myself for being so stupid. I prepared my drone to fly home when I saw Oliver slowly grab a kitchen knife off of the table. I carefully watched his movements before my ears started ringing with gunfire.

I let out a loud yelp and threw my earpiece off. I cringed at the pain, but still kept an eye on the screen. Oliver's security guard had made it to the apartment in time to intercept the hit, gunning down the hitmen. Out of the corner of my eyes he was soon jumped by a silhouette with snow white hair.

The guard and the assassin both struggled against each other in a one on one fight, until the two were on the floor locked in a hold. The struggle went on for a few seconds, until the woman pulled out a knife and was ready to stab the guard. I jumped when the kitchen knife from before flew into my line of sight and knocked the blade out of her hand. The guard, assassin and me included were surprised at the attack, but the assassin soon broke her hold and fled when the sirens started echoing down the streets.

"Shit!" I cursed out loud and hightailed my drone out of the apartment and down into my car. I quickly turned everything off and threw it all in the backseat of my car.

I discreetly drove away from the apartment and avoided eye contact with the oncoming cops.

(!)

The woman was known as China White, one of the triad's top assassins. No doubt Somers hired her to kill Lance. Since that plan was botched, my guess was that Somers was ready to get the hell out of dodge. His usual spot by the docks is where he would most likely be at, but I had to wonder if this Hood guy would be there.

I drove down there again later that night and parked myself just outside of the warehouse. I turned on my fly again and sent it inside. If anything I could at least get a live confession. Only someone else was also on his trail.

I flew in slowly as Hood had his sights trained on Somers. Somers looked ready to piss himself as Hood at an arrow near his head.

"Oh, god, no, no, no!" He pleaded. Hood stepped forward, pulling another arrow from his quiver.

"He can't help you." He snarled before firing another arrow at the side of Somers head. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti!"

"I can't, the Triad will kill me." Somers pleaded.

"The Triads not your concern right now." He fired another arrow near his leg. That seemed to get Somers going.

"It wasn't me that killed him." He said in a shaky tone. "It was the Triad."

"Acting on whose instructions?" Hood asked, but Somers was frozen in fear, until Hood fired one last arrow just above Somers forehead. "Whose?!"

"All right, all right. It was mine!" He whimpered. I couldn't help but laugh at this. In Gotham our crooks took a little more time to break than a few arrows being shot at them. "Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me.

After watching that little show, I was ready to pull out when out of nowhere, China White was standing right behind him as if she were there the whole time. Hood turned around and the two locked eyes.

"_Move away from him."_ She spoke in Chinese.

"_Make me."_ Hood responded back.

White engaged Hood in battle with her knives, and Hood deflected her attacks with his bow. Seeing him in action was a bit of a treat. The way he used his bow for close quarters combat was really impressive, but again it was still a bow, not a sword. I had half a mind to jump in and take her out myself, but I didn't have any of my gear.

The two continued their fight until White threw Hood over her shoulder and on his ass. She soon fled when she heard the cop sirens approach the docks.

I quickly took my exit as well, but before I could call my drone back, something had struck it and knocked it out of commission. The screen went static before reading, 'offline' and shut down entirely.

"Shit!" I snapped.

I quickly started up my car and got the hell out of there before any of the cops could see me. It wouldn't do well for my image if newly arrived Jayden Warney showed up and was involved with the Triads or this Hood guy. Though I have to admit, fleeing from the cops gave me that familiar rush I had felt years ago, and nothing felt sweeter than actually getting away.

(Flashback)

I was soon led outside ready to be taken into witness protection, or wherever the hell these assholes were taking me. I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't want to go anywhere with anyone. I didn't trust a cop one bit in this hellhole town.

"Hey get back here!"

Everyone looked over at a hotdog vendor who was chasing a boy, who had a bag full of chips and snacks. My window was approaching as he ran right pass us. The second the cops had made a move to grab him I reached out and pushed them both out of my way and ran like hell away from them.

They called out for me to come back, but I flipped them off and hauled ass down into the subway station. I had almost tripped on a few steps in the process, but I soon made it into the station with the cops right behind me.

I pushed pass a few people and over the checkpoint. It was a close call, but I slipped right through the doors as they closed. By the time the cops had made it to the station the train was already hauling out of the station.

I let out a heavy sigh and sat down. My heart was still pounding like a war drum and this rush I was feeling was incredible. I had just out run the cops and all I could think about is how much fun it was. Eh, I needed help.

Still, I needed to find out what my father was talking about before he died. Someone wanted him dead and I needed to be the one to find out why.

(Present day, Queen Manor)

Oliver Queen sat at his desk, contemplating his latest accomplishment as he crossed Martin Somers name off his list. His mind was racing with a million thoughts a second on what he was going to next both as Oliver Queen and the vigilante.

His latest thought that was on his mind was the small drone he had shot down with one of his flechettes. He reached for his drawer and opened it, revealing the now broken drone. The drone had a large tear on the side from where Oliver had struck it, but it went up in flames the second it hit the ground. Oliver summed it up to it having a self-destruct sequence. Someone was spying on him, but who and why?

He picked up the device and examined it closely. The metal was scratched from his flechette and scuffed from the fire, but he could make out at least two of the letters on the side of the drone.

WA-

(!)

I was at my workshop staring at my flies for over an hour. I still couldn't believe that prick had shot down one of my flies. I mean how could he have heard it, he was in the middle of a battle while cop sirens were ringing out around him. He must have had some extremely heighten senses in order to pinpoint its exact location.

It didn't matter anymore. I was left with a case meant for twelve drones, but with only eleven in the case. If I was going to be doing this again I was definitely going to have to make some serious changes, starting with scratching off the WARNEY-TECH logo of the side of the drones.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Killing is killing**

**Authors Note: Thank you everyone for your reviews and follows. I just want to let everyone know this story follows season 1 and two. I will continue with season three when it comes out on Netflix, hopefully by the time I am done with this story. Anyways, enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Arrow.**

* * *

I had just finished scratching off my logo off of my last fly. Now if I were to lose anymore I can make up any story I want if the cops come snooping.

I still don't know where my last one went. If Hood took it then I might want to step up my security measures at home, just in case. That problem was for another time, this week's problem went by the name of James Holder. Apparently the Hood had gotten to him last night.

I pocketed the fly I was working on and grabbed my control console before making my way to my car.

(James Holder's Penthouse.)

I managed to sneak into the building and find a nice little janitors closet to set up shop in. I set up the control console and my ear piece before sending my fly to go up to penthouse through the air vents.

Once it had made its way up, I noticed that Lance and his partner were already on the scene. I slowly hovered above them and listened in on what they were saying. Lance had a doubtful look on his face as he spoke.

"It doesn't make sense." Lance stated.

"Holder fits the profile." His partner explained as he looked over at the body. "Wealthy dirt bag. Red meat for the Hood. And we recovered at least one arrow." Lance nodded.

"Yeah, only this time it was a double tap through the heart and our perp doesn't use firearms." I narrowed my eyes at the screen. If this wasn't Hood than who was it?

"Maybe he's finally figured out there's easier ways to kill people than with a bow and arrow. It's like you said this guys a whack job."

The look on Lance's face showed that he wasn't convinced and neither was I. It might have been someone who James Holder had wronged. He did sell a lot of faulty smoke detectors to the Glades and a lot of people had died because of him. How many people from the Glades can break through security and take on armed guards though.

I flew my drone back down to me and quickly packed up my gear before anyone knew I was here. I didn't really want to go after some hitman when the Hood was my real interest. I didn't want to risk getting caught for something that wasn't even my concern.

But, if this guy caught the attention of Hood, then maybe I can track the Hood through him.

(Flash Back)

"What the hell are you talking about!?" I snapped on the other end of my cell phone.

After I ditched the cops I had crashed in the abandoned tenements me and my friends would get high in down in the lower east end of Gotham.

I was currently on the phone with William Earle, who was holding all of my father's shares and my trust fund. I wanted access to the money my father had left me after he had died, but this prick on the other end had been giving shit about my arrest sheet and my age.

"Mr. Warney, please, all I am saying is that due to your current circumstances it may be best if we hold onto your assets."

"Or you can just give me my fucking money and that will be that!" I snapped. I didn't want to spend another minute talking to this smug bastard.

"We can't since you are only seven-teen. I mean it wouldn't look too good for Wayne Enterprises if we just give someone of your stature all of that money." He informed me with that smug self-righteous tone in his voice.

"I swear to god if you don't give me my money, I will climb up to the top of that tower and beat the living crap out of you." I growl through my teeth.

"You shouldn't talk to me like that Mr. Warney." He said in a chipper tone. "You wouldn't want to end up like your father now would you?"

I felt my blood boil and my right eye starting to twitch. Dad did say that the Wayne Board was corrupt after all. I was about to shout back at him, but I was cut off by the static of the dial tone. I let out a loud scream and smashed my phone on the ground.

This week was not going well for me.

I plop down on the old couch in the corner of the room and let out a heavy sigh. I was so exhausted from everything that was happening to me. A week ago I had a father, money and a somewhat normal life. Today I am broke, alone and my father wasn't even my father.

I needed to get answers, but from who?

"I think heard him in here." A voice called out.

I jumped at the sound of the voice. It sounded like one of those cops I had ditched earlier. I carefully crept over to the stairwell, trying very hard not to make even the slightest noise and made my way over to the broken railing.

I looked down at the bottom of the stairs to see the exact same cops from earlier, but only this time the two were dressed in street clothes instead of their uniforms. They shined their flashlights towards my direction, but I quickly ducked away before they could see me.

"Okay, remember what we were told. Waste the kid and make it look like a struggle." One of the officers had said.

My skin started to get goosebumps at what they had just said. They weren't here to arrest me they were here to kill me.

"Are you sure this is the right spot?"

"We traced the call here and we just heard him scream, so yes this has to be the right spot. Oh, and we have to get some sort of flash drive off of him."

"What's on it?"

"I don't know or care, but it's what's going to kill this little punk."

(Preset)

I sat in my office at home, listening to anything Lance and his partner would have to say about the investigation. After I had left Holder's building I took a little drive over to the police station and sent my fly up to Lance's desk and had it plant itself on the underside of his desk. I set it to bug mode, so I could record and listen to anything they had to say. It was a handy little feature for potential evidence or blackmail if necessary.

So far it was nothing but chatter and nonsense that didn't concern me. I then heard the voice of Lucas Hilton, Lance's partner; speak up about the ballistics test.

"Got ballistics back on the on the Holder murder." He explained. I listened in closely. "They pulled two 7.62 millimeter bullets out of him. According to the stipling and size of the entry wound, they estimated the shots were fired approximately a hundred yards away."

I let my mind ponder at the thought, this was definitely not Hood. If his weapon is a bow and arrow then he would have no need for guns. Lance must have shared my skepticism, since I could him chuckling on the other end.

"A hundred yards?" He asked rhetorically. "What, so the Hood shoots him from another building, goes over to his place, he takes out his security, and then he fires off a few arrows?"

"And according to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of strychnos toxifera."

"What?" Lance asked.

"Curare. His partner simplified. "It's a kind of poison."

"_Curare laced bullets," _I tried to remember where I heard of that trademark before. This was definitely not the Hood. Lance was not convinced either as he said he was going to find his own evidence.

I shut off my console and leaned back in my chair. A hitman who uses curare bullets isn't some grunt who had just made parole. This was a professional who wanted to make sure his mark stayed down. I looked over at my other monitor and accessed the criminal data base for anything matching the killers M.O.

The gears in my head start kicking in when I start going through the killer's profile. I knew I knew who he was from an assassination of a corrupt Wayne-Tec employee back in Gotham. He's killed from Chicago, Markovia and Carto Maltese and he's never missed his mark, Interpol gave him the name, Deadshot.

He was a hired gun sure, but he was one of the best there was and he doesn't come cheap. With no leads and more importantly, no connections, I decided to go looking through any connections Holder might have had other than trashing the Glades. I thought I left all of this back at Gotham.

(Past)

I was screwed. I mean, I just had no idea what to do right now. I jumped when I heard the creak of the floor boards echo from the next room. I hid behind the old couch in the center of the room just as he stepped in.

I slowly and carefully peeked out of the corner of the couch to get a good look at the guy. I felt my heart beat like a war drum in my chest when I saw him pointing his gun all around the room. All he needs is just a glimpse of me and I'm as good as dead.

I slowly crawl back behind the couch when I feel my hand land on something. I looked and saw a wooden plank with a couple of nails sticking out of the end. It wasn't much, but it was something.

I pick it up off of the ground and grip it tight. I can see the light of the cop's gun shine in my direction. I start to get even more nervous and lean my body up against the back of the couch as much as I can. If I was going to do this I would need to be quick and strong.

His footsteps grow closer to me as I take a few deep breaths. _I can do this I just need to be quick and careful. I can do this._

When I hear another creak in front of the couch I don't waste a second. I leap up from behind the couch and swing the plank across the officer's hand, knocking the gun from his grip and across the room.

I bring the plank up again, ready for another swing, but the officer was tougher than he looked and tackled me to the ground. I felt the wind get knocked out of me when I landed on the ground.

His hands were wrapped around my throat and squeezing me tight. I couldn't breath and my vison started to go blurry with each passing second. That's when I remember the plank. I looked down at the end of it and could see the nail pointing right at the officer's throat.

I reach up and grab the end of the plank and thrust the end of it towards his shoulder. He lets out a scream when the rusty nail jams itself into his shoulder. His grip loosens on my throat and I managed to break free from his grip. I quickly crawl away from him and towards the direction of his gun.

I spot it in the corner and reach down and grab it. I hear heavy footsteps from behind me and turn towards the cop, gun in hand. I squeeze the trigger and my ear start ringing from the loud gun shot.

I watched as blood started to pour out of the center of his chest. He looks up at me surprised and I see blood dripping from his mouth. Before I could even understand what I had done he stumbles backwards and lands on the couch, his whole body just sat there without any movement.

He was dead.

I didn't have time to grieve before the second cop came into the room guns blazing. I turned around and ran through a large hole in the wall leading into the stairway and ran like hell downstairs.

(!)

Oliver Queen had paid a visit to Queen's Consolidated I.T. departments, Felicity Smoak. After his encounter with Deadshot he had found his laptop and had brought it to her hoping she could dig up whatever she could find on it.

And after telling her a blatant lie about the laptop being his, she found out that Warren Patel hired Deadshot to assassinate anyone who was bidding on Unidac Industries tonight. He knew he couldn't cover all of that ground, which means he would have to pay a visit to detective Lance.

There was also something else he had her look at.

"_Ms. Smoak, I was hoping you could tell me what this was." He asked as he pulled out the small drone from before out of his pocket and handed it to her. Her eyes lit up and her face broke out in a small grin as she held it in the palm of her hand._

"_This is a Fly." She said in an obvious tone. Oliver didn't look as enthusiastic as she did and quickly wiped her smile off her face. "It's a small infantry drone designed by Warney-Tec. It was made to get information for the F.B.I and C.I.A without endangering our boys at home. That's what Jayden Warney said at his presentation. Did you get this at the coffee shop too?"_

"_No, I was in my house, I thought it was a fly and I smashed it with a newspaper." He stated a little more defensive then he meant to. _

"_Oh, well I don't know why it was at your house, but I do know that Warney had only designed twelve of these before his business was shut down."_

"_Hmm, is there a way to trace it or pull anything from this like the laptop? I just want to make sure my nudes don't end up on T.V. again." He chuckled._

"_I know, Not that I watch T.V for your nudes, I don't even watch T.V at all-"_

"_Can you trace it?" He asked, cutting her rambling off again._

"_Afraid not, you see Warney designed with a self-destruct sequence in order to preserve all evidence."_

"_Hmm, that's strange."_

"_Maybe you should ask Mr. Warney, I mean he is going to be at the auction tonight." _

"_Maybe I will thank you."_

(Jayden's P.O.V. Auction)

I stand around with the rest of the bidders for Unidac Industries and keeping a close eye on Warren Patel.

After spending hours going through his accounts and contacts I had found a large sum of money deposited into a private account before the death of Holder and then another after the death of Carl Rasmussen another bidder of Unidac.

I shook my head in disgust as I sipped my champagne. Putting this sick bastard down would bring me great satisfaction. My disgust turned to confusion when I saw a few men in suits grab Patel and lead him out of the auction house. Even he didn't seem to know what the hell was going on.

Something was about to happen. I set my glass down on a nearby table and rush upstairs when wouldn't you know it I just so happen to run into Mr. Queen.

"Oliver." I nod as I try to squeeze past him, but he just kept blocking my way.

"Jayden, hey I was wondering if I could ask you something?" He asked in a patronizing tone.

"What is it now?" I really didn't have time for this.

"I was wondering about one of your devices call the Fly."

I looked up at him in shock. I haven't made any announcements about my Flies in over a year. How does this arrogant little bastard know so much about me and my devices?

"What about them?"

"I found one of them flying around in my room and managed to hit it with a newspaper." He explained. "The damn thing blew up the second I hit it and after giving it a closer look I saw you company logo on the side of it. It was damaged, but I my people managed to make it out to be one of yours."

"That is unusual. I will look into this right away. Just don't call your lawyers I already have enough problems as it is." I pushed pass him fuming. How the hell did he get ahold of my Fly? I only ever set one out and that was when the Hood…broke it.

I look back at Oliver who had rushed downstairs. Did the Hood give him one of the drones in order to investigate its handler? If so I would need to be extra careful. I would worry about this later. Right now I had an assassin to deal with. I made my way to a private location and locked the door behind me.

I take off my jacket and my dress shirt revealing my Nomex survivors suit chest piece. I pull a ski mask out of my pants pocket along with my black leather gloves. Once I was sure my identity was hidden I waited for Deadshot to make his move.

My wish was granted when I saw gunfire coming out of a nearby building. It must have been my lucky day. I pulled out my grappling gun and fire it at the edge of the opposite building and once it connected I leaped off of the ledge and swing across towards Deadshots location.

As I got closer I pulled out my 9mm berretta, with a suppressor, and fired it into the window, softening the impact of the crash. The second I land into the building I aim my gun right at Deadshot and fire off a few rounds. He proved to be quicker than I expected and rolled out of the way, firing an automatic gun that was mounted on his wrist at me.

We both prove futile in our shots as we both hid behind cover. I quickly changed clips and wait for another shot.

"I don't think you're the Hood." He commented. "Word on the street is that he doesn't use guns."

"No, but I am a fan of his work." I respond in a gruff voice. "I know your work. You are a bit of an over killer. Curare bullets, and that scope on your eye you really make sure your targets stay down."

"Funny, you know me, but I haven't heard of you."

"I am the Sparrow."

"Oh…now I have heard of you." He mused. "You were a real hero back at Gotham. I thought you had died."

"No, just relocated."

I turned around from my spot with my gun aimed, and Deadshot had done the same, but we were both interrupted by a dark figure crashing through the glass. Before he had even landed he had fired off an arrow and it was heading straight towards me. I quickly ducked out of the way and ducked behind another corner.

I watched the two exchange bullets and arrows for a minute before Hood managed to pin him against a wall. He pressed the edge of his bow into the throat of Deadshot before the assassin knocked the bow of his hand. The two scrambled away from each other and took cover.

"Drop your guns." Hood warned.

"As I was saying to my friend here I admire your work." He said. "Guess you won't be extending any professional courtesy."

"We're not in the same line of work."

"You've taken lives." Deadshot stated smugly.

"For the good of others." Hood said defensively. "You're out for yourself." I shook my head in annoyance I couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Killing is killing no matter what or who it's for." I stated. "At the end of the day you still have to wash the blood from your hands."

I turn to shoot Deadshot, but Hood had beaten me to it. The poor assassin had an arrow lodged into his large eye lens. I aimed my gun at Hood and he had his bow and arrow aimed at me. His eyes shined under the darkness of his hood and they were stone cold.

"So we finally meet." I stated. "You know you took out one of the drones I had stolen off of Warney."

"You are the one who has been following me."

"Yup, you had me interested. Believe it or not I left Gotham for this exact same reason."

"Then go back." He growled.

"I would, but I have been kicked out, but I think that is a story for another time."

I point behind him to a man who had been hit by one of Deadshot's stray bullets. Hood quickly rushed over to him and I had made my mistake.

(Past)

I had been running down the alleyway for about ten minutes, this bastard was more persistent than before. I had been cutting corners and keeping my head down since I left the tenements.

My luck was soon running out when I chose the one alleyway with no dumpsters, stoops or any potential cover. A shot echoed throughout the alley and a strong pain erupted from my left shoulder. I fell forward and landed face first into a puddle of dirty water.

I was so dizzy from the pain that I felt like I was about to pass out. I could hear footsteps slowly approaching me from where the gunshot came from. I looked up and saw my gun a foot away from me, but I still couldn't reach it. My vision was blurry, but I saw another figure approaching me and grabbed the gun from the ground. I watched him fire a few shots at the cop before finally passing out.


	4. Chapter 4: Clean Slate

**Chapter 4: Clean Slate**

**Authors Note: Thank you everyone who favorited my story and added it to your watch list. I am so happy. Okay here is a next chapter, I hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

I couldn't sleep a wink tonight. I have been sitting in my living room from twelve last night to eight in the morning with the lights off drinking coffee with one hand while gripping my glock with the other.

I had finally met him. The killer of Starling City, The Hooded Man or whatever else they were calling him. After I had left I had used my grappling gun to swing myself from the roof and to the ground below. Afterward I had made a beeline from my car and drove home, trying like hell to keep it under the limit to avoid any more attention.

Once I had made it back home I put my gear into a hidden compartment in my bedroom and for the past eight hours I have been just doing what I normally do, go through everyone's dirty secrets.

Blackmail isn't really my thing, but it's something I should always be prepared for if a situation calls for it.

My typing was interrupted when the sun started to shine into my eyes. Hood never showed up. My guess is that he was too busy tending to the man who was shot, and there was no pressure since he had no idea who I am…for now.

I shut my laptop off and got up to close the blinds before turning in when a news bulletin caught my eye. A man by the name of Peter Declan was announced to be on death row for the murder of his wife. I pick up the remote from my couch and turned up the volume.

"Camille was everything to me." He admitted remorsefully. "I couldn't kill her any more than I could kill myself."

The sick part is that I am probably the only person in Starling City who believes him.

I spent most of my life dealing with evil men, men who don't have any remorse for their deeds, men that see death as a reward, but this Declan man was another poor bastard caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It didn't matter to me anyways. This was something I couldn't help with anyways. I already landed myself in hot water with this whole Deadshot mess.

"Dammit!" I shouted as I threw my remote onto the couch. I want to let go, but my heart and my soul just won't let me.

I storm into my private room and approach my black case. I let out a shaky breath as the weight of my memories takes its toll on me. Without waiting another minute I thrown open my case and stare at my old wardrobe.

My old torn up leather jacket and hood I stitched on, my tattered mask, my dirty gun and my broken swords. All these things were the relics of a fallen warrior who failed his city and himself. There is nothing that this man can do to save anyone.

'_Then why can't I stop?'_

I run a hand through my messy hair and start to think things through a little differently.

Maybe deep down I wasn't meant to give up, maybe I am cursed to wander the field alone and can only stop when I am dead. Hell, I left Gotham to leave my past behind, but then comes along this archer who decides to spread his own brand of justice. What if he is a sign that I am not meant to stop being what I truly am?

I lean against the wall and slump down onto the floor.

Then again, what if I am just making up excuses to go out killing again?

(Flashback)

I felt dizzy from the gunshot wound, my whole arm felt numb from the pain, but I could feel something poking at it. I didn't know what was going on to be honest. Maybe that prick cop had me captured, or maybe that kid who took my gun had taken me to have my organs removed and sold on the black market.

"You got to stop him from twitching," A gruff voice said above me. "His stitches will come out a hell of a lot worse if he doesn't."

Stitches, what the hell is going on?

"Hey don't tell me, tell him." A younger voice said next to me. I could feel something squeezing my arm and chest. I started to stir awake when his grip had tightened on me. I looked up and jumped when I came face to face with a boy around the same age.

I went to get up, but I was restrained by another pair of hands. I looked over to see an old man clad in an old tattered brown coat and a grey beanie on top of his head.

"Settle down son." He said in a calm tone, but keeping a firm grip on my wrist. "You're safe, and we won't hurt you."

"Who are you people?" I asked looking between him and the boy. The man chuckled and released his hold on me.

"My name is Abraham," He introduced. "And this is Jason."

I looked over at Jason, who ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"Where am I?" I asked in a shaky tone. My nerves weren't exactly all together. I look over at my arm and see a few crooked stitches in my upper shoulder.

"You're in an old office building in the slums of Gotham." Abraham said to as he washed his hands in a nearby sink. "Jason here was out getting us some food when he came across you getting gunned down by that man."

"He was a corrupt cop. He was trying to kill me."

"Heh, that's no surprise. We've been seeing you on the news non-stop." Jason said. I looked at him confused.

"Why am I on the news?"

"Apparently you threatened to kill they head of Wayne Enterprises." I looked over at Jason and started to panic. Earle must have been using that phone call I gave him to get the cops to come after me. "It's actually worse than you think. You're on again and they think you killed a cop."

"What!?" I jumped up from my spot and looked at him angry and confused. "What are you talking about?"

"It's on the T.V. in the other room." Abraham said, pointing at the adjoining room. I rushed inside and saw more poor looking kids staring up at an old television in an even older waiting room. Jason was right I was all over the news and so was Earle.

"It was late and I was asleep in my home when I get a phone call from Jayden Warney," He explained in a remorseful tone. "He started talking to me about how he wanted all the money his father had left for him. I wanted to help him, but judging from the tone of his voice he was under the influence."

"That's bullshit, I didn't touch anything!" I shouted out at the T.V.

"I called the police and they had his call traced to an old abandoned tenement building. I asked them to retrieve him unharmed, but that cost the life of Officer Williams and endangered the life of Petersburg. I just want everyone to know that I will invest my time and money into aiding the police in their manhunt for Jayden Warney."

"God dammit!" I shouted before storming off.

"Hey wait up!" Jason shouted out to me.

I walked down the old broken stairs, ignoring his pleas as I made it to the door, but I was stopped when I felt a hand grip my wounded arm. I let out a sharp hiss and glared dagger at him.

"You shouldn't at least go out during the day." He said in a stern tone.

"Why not?" I tear my arm from his grip.

"It is two in the afternoon and as you just witnessed a citywide manhunt for you. Besides where do you even have to go?"

"What do you care?"

"I don't know, but when I saw you in that alleyway I wanted to leave you there, but for some reason deep inside I couldn't do it and I can't let you walk out now!"

I glared at him for who knows how long and processing every word he just said. He was right; I am a known rich brat while he is an unknown poor kid. He could have left me there to die, hell he should have, because now he is a witness to everything that has happened, but he chose to help me. So I would stay and humor him until I figured out my next move.

"I'm Jayden Warney." I hold out my hand and give him a proper introduction. He shook his head before grabbing my hand and shakes it hard.

"Jason Todd."

(Present)

After I left my house I made my way to my workshop. When I got set up I made a phone call to my good friend Flynn, who was still working out in Gotham and asked him to send me some of my goodies.

"Yes, I submitted the designs and sent a prototype to your address out in Starling."

"Thank you Flynn, I just got them." I said on the other line. My fingers trace over the metal case. "I'll put it to good use."

"Okay you take care, buddy."

"You too." I ended the call and I quickly opened up the case smiled at my latest invention, Eagle Eyes. This little beauty could fit perfectly to my face and cover my eyes without any discomfort. It had built in night vision, inferred and a nifty little device called detective mode. This would make combing a crime scene even easier for years to come.

Then there were my gauntlets that I had made from a material that actually came from a meteorite. I had them built with three jagged blades on each one, along with a hidden blade under the wrist. This would fit perfectly with my suit.

I checked for the rest of the materials and there were plenty of materials left form my sword, but for now I would make do with what I had. I still had to figure out what kind of sword I was going to make. Something like a tanto Ninja sword or a machete I didn't know. All I did know is that I wanted it to be bad ass, but also an extension of myself.

I check my watch and realize that it was a lot later than I thought. I packed up everything that I had received and made my way out of the warehouse and to my car.

I drove home that night contemplating on what I was doing. I thought that if I got a full glimpse of what I was, what I was going to be, maybe I would come to my senses. I wasn't.

I kept getting more and more excited as I progressed in my equipment and my looks, but I got the feeling that I was missing something. When I came to another red light I just so happened to be in the shopping district near my penthouse and just out of the corner of my eyes there it was.

A long and black leather coat with a very nice looking hood on top.

"That's it." I grinned as I pulled into the parking lot.

(Two nights later)

The next night at Iron Heights Prison broke out in an all scale riot and all of it was set up by Jason Brodeur. I spotted his security guard Ankov step inside and everything went to hell shortly after. To make matters worse Lance's daughter was there as well. I would just have to hope Hood would be here too if he wasn't too busy killing picking off any more business executives and smugglers.

I pulled out an explosive dart and threw it at the wall. In a few seconds the wall became a crater and the commotion inside went silent. When the smoke cleared the inmates stopped their carnage and stared at me, both in confusion and fear.

I stepped in slowly and watched as the backed away from the guards they were just beating. Once I was in the center of the cell block I switched my modulator on.

"_**If you want to live get back to your cell block, or if you want to die well…come to me and find out."**_

One of the inmates rushed towards me, swinging a nightstick. I dodged his swing and sent my fist into the side of his temple and knocked him out cold.

Three more came after me and I charged at them as well. I ducked underneath on of the inmate's punches before grabbing his arm and using him to swing myself around and kick another inmate in the center of his face. I then broke his arm before engaging the third inmate and sent both of my hidden blades into each of his legs. He let out a loud scream before falling to the ground, clutching both of his legs.

I reached down and picked up two discarded nightsticks and used them to fight off more oncoming inmates. I sent a barrage of quick strikes into an inmate's stomach and knee before I sent another heavy strike across another's skull.

I threw the sticks into the face of a couple of unfortunate inmates before stabbing my blades into the throats of another pair of inmates before lifting them up and slamming them into the ground. There were going to be a lot of empty cells in Iron Heights by the time I left tonight.

When I looked back at the remaining inmates I could tell that they had a change of heart. So, I decided to give the rest another chance.

"_**Declan, where is he?"**_

"I think I saw him and his lawyer go down that way." An older inmate pointed out.

"_**Thank you, now back to your cells before you end up like these men."**_

I storm past them and down a nearby hallway where I managed to spot poor Laurel Lance being strangled by Ankov. I was ready to rush towards him and tear him to pieces, but before I could get my hands on him, one of the guards had his hands on him and started wailing on him.

It almost looked like he was ready to kill the poor bastard, but Laurel quickly stepped in and pulled him off of Ankov.

My eyes lit up when I saw a quiver full of arrows strapped on his back. That was a guard that was the Hood.

Son of a bitch.

I soon heard the sounds of multiple footsteps behind me and I knew it was the cops. I ran into another room and blasted another hole in the wall and rushed out of the prison. The guards were close behind me, so I had to throw a flash bang to keep them at bay.

I rushed toward my bike and started it up before taking off at high speed. I would be long gone by the time they got things settled at the prison.

Later that night as I drove through the empty streets of Starling City a strange calm came over me. It was as if the weight I have been feeling since I got here was finally lifted. I did say I wanted a clean slate but I never once since getting here that I would be doing this again.

It was a sad fate that I could only feel this way by being a killer of the night, but I came to peace with my fate since my father's death and I haven't looked back once.

And I don't plan on doing it now.

(Flashback)

"Okay give me this." Jason said as I handed him my leather jacket. "And you take this." He gave me his old tattered red hoodie. Then a little boy took my winter hat and placed his old baseball hat on my head. "Great, you look just like an everyday bum now."

"Why do I feel like you just got robbed?" I said in a monotone voice as I got dressed.

"Because if anyone asks where we got them, we tell them stole them from some guy, which is also partly true." He chuckled.

"Screw you." I sighed before stepping out.

"Hey, where will you go?" Jason asked as he followed me outside. I pulled my new, ratty hood over my head as I walked down the street.

"I was planning on going to an internet café and find out what is on this damn flash drive." I grumbled. I was looking over my shoulder and around every corner to avoid any police.

"Your dad gave you that?" He asked.

"Yes." I responded curtly.

"What do you think is on it?"

"Won't know until I find out."

"What will you do when you find out?"

"Why are you following me?" I snapped. "Seriously, you don't owe me anything."

"Yes, but you owe me," He responded in a smug and chipper tone. "After all I did save your life and if there is any money on that drive of yours I want in."

"There is no, ugh, look when I get access to my trust fund I will give you half of it alright?" I bargained with him, but he looked unconvinced.

"Well I guess I will be sticking with you until you get your trust fund. Until then I will be on your like bees to honey."

I shook my head in annoyance. This punk would follow me to hell until he got get his money. So I relented and agreed to let him follow me.

"Okay," I held my hand out to him and he reached out and grabbed it. He was shocked when I pulled him towards me so close that our faces were nearly touching. "But it is your funeral."


	5. Chapter 5: Real Deal

**Chapter 5: Real Deal**

**Authors Note: Thank you all for your favorites and reviews. I enjoy all the support and feedback you guys give me for this story. I hope you enjoy this next one.**

**Oh and Jayden's sword is what is called a Tang Flame Blade Fantasy sword. It is also a sword I plan on buying. :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

"Well isn't this just charming." A stern voice snapped from the foot of my bed.

I jumped up from my bed with my gun at the ready, but to my shock, Malcolm was the one standing at the foot of my bed. I was relieved since he was the only one allowed access to my home.

"What brings you here so early?" I asked as I ran my hand down my tired face.

"It's one in the afternoon, and what brings me by is the incident in Iron Heights Prison." I was still asleep when he accused me of my actions from last night. "You remember right, a man in black came in and sent eight men to the hospital and five to the morgue."

"Oh yeah, wait, what about Declan?" I jumped out from bed and start to panic. I was so involved with those convicts; I didn't even stick around long enough to figure out what had happened to him.

"He was acquitted of all charges." He explained. "He was released and reunited with his daughter, courtesy of Laurel Lance." I let out a heavy sigh of relief before plopping back down onto bed.

"Good, so why exactly are you here?" I mumbled as I was about to drift back to sleep.

"I was wondering why you were there last night?" He asked in annoyance.

"An innocent man was about to be put to death and I stepped in and helped out. I was going to just break him out, but Lance must have had more pull than I did."

"She does, you want to guess who?" He asked rhetorically. I just shrugged my shoulders

He walked over to my nightstand and picked up my T.V. remote and turned it on. He changed the channel to the news and to my surprise Oliver Queen's face was all over the news.

"They are saying that he is the Starling City Vigilante." Malcolm said in annoyance.

"Who cares, if it's him, it's him, if not then again who cares?" I shrugged. It never crossed my mind that he would be the Hood. I watched the broadcast as they apparently had footage that Oliver was the Hood from that auction a few nights back.

The live footage of him being dragged away wasn't really convincing me that he was guilty. Granted, he has been hauled into court more times than a Gotham prostitute, but those were for petty crimes, but this time he was convicted of murder and he looked completely calm

What really confused me was the way Malcolm was staring at the T.V. That was the look he gave his enemies. What did he have to do with the Hood?

"Something you want to tell me?" I asked raising my eyebrow. I saw Malcolm flinch before he quickly turned off the T.V.

"I need you to do me a favor." Malcolm explained. "I need your 'other self' to patrol the city tonight and see if the Hood and Oliver is the same person."

"Ugh, seriously?" I groan. "I only got like five hours of sleep."

"Well I guess you should have thought of that before you went on to investigate who he is, shouldn't you?"

"You figured that out did you?" I asked sheepishly.

"Adam Hunts Company gets bought out by a Mr. Warney, just a few hours after going bankrupt and then you happen to lose one of your Flies. Should I go on?"

"Alright, god damn, I'll look into it." I snapped as I fell back onto my bed. "Will you do me the kindness of getting the hell out of my room please?" I hear Malcolm let out a snort.

"Even with all that training you still have no motivation or goals. Do you even know what you are going to do, now that you've taken up the role of Sparrow once again?"

"Goodbye, Merlyn." I groan into my pillow.

I listen to his expensive shoes stomp on the floor of my room before finally he leaves. I hadn't planned on doing anything today, but now I was going to have to do some digging on some potential Hood targets.

Shouldn't be too hard though, it isn't the first time I had to go hunting for vermin.

(Flashback)

I sat at the computer at the Library, but the flash drive was still in my hands. I don't think I was ready to figure out what my dad had stumbled onto. Jason was no help on the matter at hand as I watched him surf through the web.

I let out a deep breath and put the drive into the port and watched as the folder popped up on my screen. I clicked on it and started to go through everything there was on the file.

The names were a few people on the Wayne Board, one of whom happened to be Earle. A lot of this stuff was hard for me to figure out, but it was mostly embezzlement. The rest of this stuff was hard for me to make out.

"What did you find out?" Jason asked.

"Well mostly them just skimming off the edges of Police 401K's, charities, and that Mayor's homeless outreach project." I explained in disgust. "I don't know what the rest of this stuff is though." Jason looked over my shoulder and stared at the screen for a few minutes before speaking out.

"I saw something like this in a warehouse once," He explained. "I think it was a shipping order or something."

"Can we trace it, or something?" I asked. I was starting to get desperate. I thought once I looked over the drive I would finally have the evidence I would need, but this gibberish isn't anything I could just hand over to Gordon, not that I could get anywhere near that precinct without getting murdered by those cops.

"I can't and I doubt you can either." Jason chuckled. "This is out of our hands."

I ran my hands over my tired face. "This is just getting more and more ridiculous by the minute."

"Do you know anyone who understands computers and hacking?"

I sat in my chair for a moment. Who did I know who could hack code?

Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, there was only one person who could do this kind of work.

"Barbara Gordon."

(Present)

"Okay, so I may have a lead." I explained to Malcolm.

After his unannounced visit to me at my home, I finally decided to see if what I was seeing on the news was true about Oliver. So after spending a few hours on some criminal data bases I came up with a potential Hood victim by the name of Leo Mueller. Mueller is a German business man, suspected of stealing guns and decided to pay a visit to Starling City. When I made this discover I made my way straight over to Merlyn's office.

"So, this Mueller is planning on selling weapons in the Glades I'm assuming." Merlyn said unimpressed.

"You assumed right, and I think I might know where he may be selling them." I explained. "There is just something I can't figure out."

"And what's that?"

"What does any of this have to do with you?" I place my both of my hands flat on top of his desk and glare at him. All this running around and sticking my neck out was one thing when I was doing it, but when Merlyn starts demanding me to do these things, it makes me a tad curious.

Merlyn just folded his hands on his desk and gave me his stupid smug smirk.

"I have plans you see, and these plans have been getting interrupted by this man in the hood." He explained as his tone started to get sharper and more forceful. "I have a certain vendetta of my own, just like you have with Gotham and I would appreciate it if you would just help me on this."

"What plans and what vendetta?" I snapped. "I tried to give hope to people back at Gotham, a chance to fight back. So fare half of the people this Hood bastard has taken out are a bunch of cheapskates and murderers who are just protecting their ass wipe money."

"Those people will be dealt with, but in my way!" Merlyn shouted. "Look, I promise I will explain, but not right now. Just…is there a way you can observe the Hood and Oliver?" I let out a heavy sigh and shake my head. "No need. He's having a huge party at his house, not to mention Lance himself will be there. So no worries there, as for Hood I will look into this myself."

"Thank you, now I hate to be rash, but I have other commitments so if you would please." He motioned to the door with his hand. I said nothing and just left him to his own doings.

I opened the door and came face to face with an older woman. She jumped when she saw me.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"No, it's my, Mrs. Queen?" I asked. It was her, Oliver's mother. I have never actually met her until now, but I saw her face a dozen times on the news this morning alone.

"Oh, yes, Jayden Warney." She smiled and offered me her hand. I shook it, but was still confused as to why she was here to begin with. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes, you too." I looked her in her eyes and could see that she was nervous about something. Then again her son was accused of being a serial killer, so who could really blame her. "I'm sorry about your son."

"Yes, well Detective Lance has had it in for my family, so I can't really blame Oliver." She said in a shaky tone.

"Jayden," Merlyn said. "Mrs. Queen and I have some business to discuss, so if you don't mind." He gave me a very angry, but calm looking glare. Queen wouldn't notice, but to me he might as well have been on fire.

"Of course."

I nodded to Queen and stormed out of Merlyn's office. I would worry about him and whatever he was planning later, for now I needed to focus on that freaking arms dealer.

I just needed to get something from my workshop.

(Flashback)

"Dude, you are nuts." Jason sneered as we walked down the street to Gordon's apartment building. "I mean taking on the cops and a bunch of power executives is one thing, but asking the daughter of the man who is in charge of capturing you is just insane."

"Hey, I know Barbara. She and I met at Gotham Academy."

"Gotham Academy, how the hell could her dad afford that?" He asked as we rounded the corner to the alleyway that I was sure would be the right way to her bedroom.

"The Wayne Foundation Scholarship, she was enrolled with the highest grade point average and she explained on the news that when it came to computers, she was a whiz at them."

"She said whiz?" His face contorted in disgust.

"She said whiz." I confirmed. I looked up at a fire escape and pinpointed her window on the fifth floor.

"There she is." I said. I put on some gloves I had found in our last hiding spot and got ready to climb up.

"You are sure that she'll help us?" Jason asked. He was obviously still skeptical about my plan. "She isn't exactly a reliable source."

"I am sure; she has the same determination as her father. Hell, she may be looking to do some good. The last time I saw her, she was angry at her dad for letting the Falcone syndicate get away with murder, and I mean literally, there was a trial and everything."

"Well we're screwed either way. Let's get this over with."

We both moved a dumpster from the side of the building underneath the fire escape and Jason stood on top of it before I climbed up on the dumpster before he helped me onto his shoulders.

With as much strength as I could I jumped straight up as high as I could and grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder. I quickly pulled myself up and started climbing up the fire escape. I had made my way up to the fifth floor and my heart was thumping the whole time. Barbara and I weren't exactly friends.

I made it to the fifth floor window and carefully made my way up to the glass. I felt a little wrong for peeping into a girl's window, but I had to make sure she was decent. I slowly peeked inside and to my relief she was in her pajamas, sitting cross legged as she typed into her laptop.

Barbara wasn't that bad looking of a girl. She was a pretty average, nerdy girl. Her hair was a short, beautiful shade of red and tied into a ponytail. I actually fund that very attractive. Dammit, I was getting sidetracked.

I let out a shaky breath and tapped on the glass. I saw her flinch and look around for a bit before shrugging and going back to her laptop.

I rolled my eyes and knocked on the glass this time. She jumped and looked right at me through her curtains. I could see that she recognized me and I gave her a small wave, motioning for her to come over to me.

She was hesitant at first, but she eventually stumbled out of her bed and walked over to the window.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered in an angry tone of voice.

"I need your help." I pleaded.

"You…I-I can't talk to you. My dad has issued a warrant for your arrest." She kept fidgeting as she looked back over shoulder.

"I know and his cops are a bunch of corrupt bastards who are trying to kill me. That's how that last cop got himself killed."

"Why, is it the mob?"

"Worse, the Wayne Board of Directors."

"Why would they want you dead? They're supposed to be-"

"The good guys?" I cut her off. She gave me a disappointed look and I held my hands up in defense. "Just hear me out." I gave her the rundown about how my father had stumbled upon the corruption that has plagued Gotham and how Earle had tried to kill me. "And it's all on this drive, but some of it is encrypted."

"What does any of this have to do with me?"

"You are sadly he only person I can trust and the only smart enough to hack this."

"Barbara?" Her father's voice rang out. I jumped and shoved the drive into her hands.

"Look, if you want to do some good, then do what you can and meet me at the Library tomorrow, if not then give it to your father. I'm dead either way."

I quickly climb down the escape and rejoin Jason in the alley before we both take off into the night.

(Present)

I sat in the warehouse where the meeting would be taking place between Mueller and a street gang. Mueller had a whole truck full of military assault rifles and if the Hood really cared about the Glades not being flooded with all that fire power he would show, and if Oliver was the Hood then he would have to leave his party in order to stop them.

While Mueller handed his product to the leader the lights suddenly cut out and Mueller started to panic. He shouted to his boys, before snagging his gun back from the gang leader and made his way to his car.

Out of the corner of my eye the Hood appeared and knocked out on of Mueller's men. Mueller got the hell out of there before the Hood could get his hands on him. As he left I noticed something off about the Hoods tactics, mainly one.

He hasn't fired off a single arrow since arriving. If he did that then no one would have gotten away.

I needed a closer look.

After he had knocked out his last victim I jumped down from the rafters and landed right in front of him. I had my brand new, handmade Tang machete sword pointed at his throat. I could see his eyes through the Shadow of the Hood, he wasn't expecting me. Hell, I would even go as far to say he was afraid.

"_Are you the real deal?" _My voice echoed with my modulator. I could see he was still a little panicked from my arrival. _"The last time we met was the night when you killed Deadshot at that auction. You were so calm and determined, but now you are afraid."_

He wasn't the man I had encountered at the auction, actually, now that I see him his build is a bit bigger than usual and his skin looks darker than before. He hasnt even muttered a single sentence since we met.

This wasn't the Hood, but it wasn't Oliver either.

"_No, you are not him."_

I sheathed my blade and I took off into the night. That man was not Oliver, but he wasn't the Hood either. This was going to be something that was worth investigating.

For now though I think I would keep this a secret between me our impostor friend.

Merlyn didn't need to know just yet.


	6. Chapter 6: Better Intentions

**Chapter 6: Better Intentions**

**Authors Note: Thank you all for reviews and feedback, this one is mostly filler so not much to go on, but next chapter will have all the action you will need. So enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

"No, it was him." I explained to Malcolm over the phone.

"Yes, thank you." Malcolm snapped. "Now I have a dead hitman and an angry Moira Queen to deal with." I narrow my eyes.

"Why the hell are you sending a hitman to Oliver's house? In fact, how does Moira know you are involved Is this why she was at your office yesterday?"

"Not now, later." He responded shortly as his voice grew more distant. "Moira, we have an appointment?" I heard him ask right before the line went dead.

I rolled my eyes and threw my phone on the couch. With nothing going on today I just decided to take the day off and work on myself.

I worked out in my personal gym, honed my swordsmanship and most importantly, meditated. Afterwards, I took a hot shower and prepared relaxed on the couch for the rest of the day.

I walked out into my living room, in a pair of grey sweat pants and a black t-shirt, and plopped down on the couch and turned on the T.V. Imagine my surprise when the news starts airing on about Starling City Trust being robbed and a cop getting gunned down.

"Well there goes my day off." I said to myself as I continue watching the news. Apparently one of the witnesses saw a man draw his gun from his coat, but was gunned down before he could do anything. They didn't know he happened to be a cop off duty.

They continued showing footage of the robbers wielding assault rifles and wearing hockey masks with royal flush cards on them. I heard about these guys, they have been hitting every major bank in the country. They hit one, now they have two more to go.

I got up from my couch and made my way to my bed room. I walked over to a nearby wall with the portrait of Adonis hanging above and slide my index finger under the frame and along the hidden scanner I had installed.

The wall next to it opened up to reveal my secret room filled with all the goodies I would need to find these little punks. After all, I can't have a bunch of gun wielding lunatics running around in my new home, can I?

(Flashback)

I satin the library waiting and hoping for Barbara to show up. Jason decided to stick back with his friends this time. He didn't want to risk going to jail over my failed reading on a woman's intuition.

I checked my watch for the hundredth time and let out a frustrated growl. The time had gone from nine-thirty to nine-thirty one. I was losing my mind just sitting here in the corner of the library while gripping my half empty gun in my hoodie pocket. I definitely needed to get more bullets for this thing if I was going to go after the entire Wayne Board.

"Psst." I jumped and looked up from my book I was pretending to read, which was upside down, and looked over to see who was whispering to me.

I sighed in relief when I saw Barbara approach me. She was wearing a green winter coat with a fur lining and a pair of blue jeans with brown boots. She kept her face hidden with a blue beanie and a red scarf wrapped around her face, smart.

"Hey, you came." I said to her. She had an uneasy look on her face when she took her scarf off. "I'm kind of surprised that you came."

"Well you didn't give me much of a choice." She whispered as she took a seat across from me.

"What did you find out?" I asked. I was actually starting to tremble from the anticipation.

"I found out that you and I are officially neck deep in shit!" She sneered. "After I descrambled the encryption I used my dad's police records to find out what most of the serial numbers were. There were only a few, but they were the same numbers as a few shipping freighters my dad had found a few years ago."

"What were they shipping?"

"P-People." She muttered. I felt a cold shill run through my heart. This just kept getting better and better by the minute.

"Why the hell are they transporting people?" I asked.

"I don't know, but when my dad came across one of these freighters he found at least fifteen kids on board." I narrowed my eyes at her and she nodded in confirmation. "That's right, kids."

"Why the hell is a multi-billion dollar company getting involved in human trafficking?" I asked. "They have more money than god and they do business with the government. Someone would have investigated."

"I think you just answered your own question." She muttered.

"No, I mean, come on." I chuckled nervously. "I know Gotham is bad, but who the hell in the world would want to risk buying abducted children?"

"I don't know, this drive only tells me a list of transactions between the Wayne Board and the people they're ripping off. The rest is nothing but one way shipping orders." Barbara explained.

"Damn, what kind of fresh hell did my dad land me in?" I whispered to myself. I looked at Barbara and let out a sigh. "Listen, you did a lot to help me, but I don't want you to get caught up in any more of my shit. So, just give me the drive and go home before I end up getting you killed as well." Barbara looked at me with a stunned expression.

"You think I can just go back home, after what you just landed me in?" She stammered. "When I was about to come and meet you, I saw a couple of cops outside my building. They weren't there for my dad because he had already left and he would have told me if anything was wrong."

"So you think they were there for you, how would they know you have the drive?" I asked. Then another question dawned on me. "How did they even know I went and saw you in the first place?"

"I don't know, but-wait, where is your friend, the one I saw you running with last night?"

My heart stopped. Jason did look a little nervous last night and he didn't look at me at all this morning. _He did seem determined to get his money too, did Earle offer him more?_

"Let's get this to my dad." She explained as he held the flash drive up. "He can help, he can take this to the F.B.I. and we can have the charges dropped against you."

"I'll be dead before I can get within a block of that place." I snapped. "Like I said, these guys have connections. They are not going to stop until I am dead."

"But they are rich, they wouldn't go straight to jail, they would battle it out in court or something, right?"

"They don't want this to go public any more than it already has."

"Then what the hell are we going to do?" She snapped.

"Run." I told her. She looked at me confused. She must have seen the feral look in my eyes and has come to realize that Petersburg is walking down the aisle in his street clothes, but his gun is visible under his left shoulder. He turned his head from one of the tables and our eyes met. His lips curved upwards into a sadistic grin.

"Go, now!"

I pushed Barbara out of the way and pulled my handgun out. Petersburg had done the same and we both opened fired.

(Present)

I stand on the rooftop of the First Bank of Starling and watch as blue van pulls away from the crime. That wasn't my concern though my concern was the gunfire coming from inside of the Bank.

I used my grappling hook to lower myself down onto the ground and enter the bank. Once inside I follow the trail to these little bastards getaway hatch that leads to the underground of the bank.

I drew my Beretta and jump down after them and take off after them like a hungry lion chasing its prey. When I spot them running down the tunnels I raise my gun and aim it at them. Right when I have a clear shot the cops come in just around the corner and start shooting blindly at the robbers.

One of them raises his assault rifle and opened fired on the cops before ducking behind some pipes. The cops also spotted me and start shooting in my direction as well. I have to go non-lethal now since the cops are in the crossfire and pull out a tranquilizer gun and a flash bang.

I toss the flash bang and wait for it to go off before perusing the robbers. When I see the bright flash from the corner of my eyes I rush out of my hiding spot and fire a dart into one of the cops who was just firing his gun off blindly.

In my pursuit of the robbers I noticed a shadow lurking from corner to corner and to my surprise an arrow whipped right past my head and into the robbers duffle bag. I was amused when the arrow that struck the bag popped off a few grappling cables out of the sides and stapled the bag to the ground.

One of the robbers tried to pry the cables off, but it was stuck in there good. I raised my gun again to shoot the robbers, but I was interrupted by another oncoming arrow. It pierced a pipe over my head and I quickly popped off a few rounds towards Hood's direction, but I couldn't get a good beat on him.

I watched as another arrow pierced another bag and stapled itself down to the ground, same as before and the robbers decided the bail and leave the money.

I went to go after them, but was stopped by an arrow being struck two inches in front of my face. I raised my gun and aimed it at the Hood as he had his bow trained on me.

"_You,"_ I chuckled. _"You are the real deal."_

"_You threatened a friend of mine that night."_ He growled.

"_I know which makes me wonder, why he was wearing your hood and why you weren't there?" I snickered. "Were you sick, on a date or were you being assassinated at Queens Mansion."_

Not one second before the cops arrived, I could have sworn I saw his eyes twitch, even with his hood down. Maybe Oliver wasn't as innocent as he had said he was. The cops shouted at us to drop our weapons, but Hood quickly fired an arrow at a nearby circuit board and cut the power to the lower levels.

I turned and got the hell out of there without looking back.

When I had made it out side I rushed over to my motor cycle I had hidden in an alleyway and hopped on before riding off into the city.

As I drove I kept kicking myself in what a bust that was back there. I was slow, I was distracted and I was above all else reckless. I should have just capped all of them before the cops had even shown, but no I just had to make an appearance.

I let out a frustrated growl before turning into the parking garage. I just sat in the darkness of the garage and spent some time alone with my thoughts.

As I sat there I wondered if my resolve was still broken from my time in Gotham. I didn't want to go back, but I couldn't move forward until I came to terms with who I was then, and who I am now.

My mind kept crossing between the Hood and my own plans, plans I don't have. Hood has plans, Merlyn has plans hell even those Royal Flush bastards have plans, but what are my plans?

I was a copycat vigilante, inspired by the Hood at least that is what I can hear the media say. I needed to be more than a man with a grudge. I need to be something else, something more.

I started my bike up again and make my way towards home. I needed to meditate.

(Flashback)

I was running down the alleyway behind the library with my right hand gripping my gun and the other gripping Barbara's wrist. I managed to clip Petersburg in his shoulder and his leg. He isn't going to be coming after me anytime soon.

I still had three more thugs behind me and Barbara though. I had to get her out of here, get her somewhere safe. I can't let her die because of me.

"Jayden, over here." She pulled me behind a dumpster and we both crouched down behind it.

She was panting badly. She was horrified at what was happening. I couldn't really blame her, damn me to hell, I should never have asked her to get involved. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and hold her close.

"Hey, I am not going to let them get you." I promised her. "I will tear them to pieces."

I peeked around the corner of my hiding spot and start to panic when I see three of Petersburg's thugs stalking down the alley with their handguns at the ready.

"Damn," I growl before hiding behind the dumpster. I turned to Barbara who still looked in shocked. "I have two shots left, now when I jump out, I want you to run like hell and keep to the wall. They want me dead not you. If I am lucky I can at least get two of them."

She slowly turns her head and looks at me with teary eyes. I feel a great weight of guilt crushing me as she looks at me she thinks I am a monster. I find myself looking down at her hands that were fiddling with the back of her pants. My eyes widened when she pulls out a Walther PP and hold it in the palm of her hand.

"I-It's one of my Dad's." She said in a shaky voice. "I-I thought I would need it just in case and I didn't want to, but-"

"Hey, I don't blame you," I hug her briefly before pulling away and taking the gun. "I put you in a bad spot and I am sorry. I will not let them touch you."

I grip the guns tight and I count slowly to three.

"On three, you run, okay?" She sat still so I had to nudge her with my shoulder. She jumped and left out a yelp. "Okay?" I say more sternly.

"Yes, on three run."

"We heard you kiddies." One of the thugs chuckled, his voice sounded much closer than before.

"One…two…three!" I shouted.

Barbara took off running and I aimed my guns at the crooked bastards. I fired my glock at one man and managed to hit him in his shoulder. The other two ducked for cover, but still kept firing at me. I looked over at Barbara and was glad that she was following my advice.

I aimed the Walther back at the crooks and fired at them and managed to get another, but only in his leg. When Barbara and I had finally managed to make it to the end of the alley, a big brown van appeared right before up.

The side doors opened up to reveal Jason and a couple of other kids from before. He grabbed onto me and Barbara while the other two aimed their own handguns and fired at the crooks, killing them all.

"Go, go, go!" Jason shouted as the van took off in high-speed.

"I told you it was a bad idea." Jason chuckled in between breaths.

"Eh, look on the bright side, I owe twice now." I smiled as he smiled back.

(Present)

I tracked the Royal Flush gang down to their last bank. After my meditation I came to a realization of what I want. I want to be the warrior I was once feared for. I want to be the darkness of the night and the sword of justice. I was more determined and more focused than I was before.

I was not going to let these crooks get away with another bank. I caught sight of the blue getaway van and saw a middle aged woman and a young boy in the front seats. I drew my sword and gun and fired it at the tires.

They both let out shrieks before I slipped my sword through the window and held the blade against the young boy's throat.

"_Out of the van, now!" _I shouted.

The woman nodded and quickly stepped out with her hands up, pleading for me to spare her son.

"_Shut up, I won't kill him."_ I assured her as I holstered my gun and tossed her a pair of handcuffs. _"Put them on, and then cuff the other onto the rear view mirror."_

She nodded and cuffed herself to the car and then I cuffed her son to her. I turn to the bank and leave them for the police. I was almost inside when she started calling out to me.

"We didn't want this," She pleaded. "Hurting that cop, my son just wanted to take care of us."

"_Better intentions or not, it doesn't change the fact that he is willing to kill to get what he wants, but I won't kill him. I'm here for Hood."_

I step inside of the bank and see the Hood kneeling besides a fallen robber. Strange thing is he had his hood down.

"_I guess you got to him before I could."_ I say as he quickly puts his hood back on and directs his bow in my direction.

"_What are you doing here?"_ He asked.

"_I was here to stop them, but judging from the look of the place you got most of the fun, while I dealt with the soccer mom and her bastard son." _I saw him twitch again, just like before. What was his connection with these people?

"_What did you do to them?" _He snarled. I could see his fingers were getting a little shaky on that arrow.

"_Relax, they are fine. I was hoping to fight you one on one, but I guess that will have to wait for another time." _ I pointed over at the door that had flashing lights on the other side.

When he turned around I took my leave and exited the bank. I escaped on my bike and took off for home. I don't know what Hood's deal was with that gang, but to tell the truth I didn't care.

What I did care about was Merlyn. When I was meditating my thoughts kept drifting back to him and what Moira Queen was doing together. I needed to make sure that my new home wasn't in any danger.

Merlyn is dangerous, and Mrs. Queen knows it as well as I do It was time to get some answers.

Next stop, Queens Consolidated.


	7. Chapter 7: Tears of Revelations

**Chapter 7: Tears of Revelations**

**Authors Note: Another day, another chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Arrow.**

* * *

I slice my blade across the stomach of the last punk who tried to rape a poor girl. After that nonsense with the Royal Flush I took a detour through the Glades and encountered three individuals who tried to take what a woman would not give.

She escaped unharmed, but these little bastards wouldn't make it five steps away from me before I sliced my new sword into their skin. I didn't kill them, but they would be real sorry and never do something so cowardly like this again.

I hopped on my bike and took off for home. Tomorrow I would be making my way to Queen's Consolidated. It was time for me to get some answers about Merlyn.

(!)

I park my car outside in the parking lot a little after noon and walk over towards the main entrance. I was about to enter when I saw Mrs. Queen herself stepping out of the building with a suit hassling her over something.

"Mrs. Queen, all I am asking for is for a chance to sit down and discuss our proposal." He asked as he followed her down the steps.

"If that's all it is, then I can save us both the time. It's rejected." She stated in an annoyed tone of voice. My guess is that this guy has been bugging her all day. If it were me I would have just booted the guy and move on.

"I see. May I ask why?" He asked offended by her rejection.

I walk towards the two and prepare to ask her some questions about Merlyn and ready to bust this guy's windpipe if need be.

"Do I really need to answer that, Mr. Copani." I see her look over this 'Copani' guys shoulder and over at the street. Oliver pulls up on his motorcycle and she nods in his direction. "Now if you'll excuse me I am meeting my son for lunch."

She was about to go over to Oliver, but Copani just kept blocking her. It was time to step in.

"Hey, she said she has to go so why don't you go find someone else to annoy." I said to the guy. He turned and gave me a disgruntled look.

"Mr. Warney, what brings you here?" She asked a little surprised. I waved it off.

"I was hoping to talk to you about yesterday, but it can wait." I didn't want to bother her like this guy was, but if she was running late I know I wouldn't get any answers anyways, especially with the questions I have.

I was about to leave when I started hearing the revving of a motorcycle coming from down the street. I simply ignored it, until it started getting louder and closer. I look over at the street and imagine my surprise when I see a biker, dressed in all black leather, concealed helmet driving up on the sidewalk.

I watch him at first, and then panic when I see him pull out a handgun out of his left holster.

"Get down!" Oliver shouted.

I quickly grabbed Mrs. Queen and push us both to the ground. I hear three shot go off and out of the corner of my eye Copani falls to the ground dead.

"Mom?" Oliver said with worry. "Are you okay?" He asked her as he helped her up.

I quickly got up and drew my gun, this bitch, whoever they were, picked the wrong day to kill.

I took off after him, which was hard in my business shoes, but I managed just fine. I had a few shots, but I didn't want to risk capping some poor old lady and her grandson, even Jayden Warney couldn't get away with that one.

When I turned in an alleyway I had a clear shot at him, but Olivier was right on the other side with a rebar in his hand. He held his arm back and chucked it at the assassin's bike, but it still kept going right as a truck passed by.

The killer got away and I was left with nothing, except my suspicions of Oliver being the Hood.

(!)

"Well that was a bust." I groan to myself as I plop face down on the couch. "Oh yeah, I'm alone. Oh well, I like talking to myself, that way I am the smartest person in the room."

"Second smartest person in the room." I let out another groan when Malcolm Merlyn storms into my living room.

"This is getting really annoying."

"I couldn't agree more." He replied sternly as he stared down at me. "What were you doing at Queen's Consolidated today?"

"Business ventures." I replied sarcastically.

"How many times do I have to warn you to stay out of my business?" He warned. "I promised you that I wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to you."

"It's not me I am worried about. It's you man." I got up from my couch and looked him in his eyes. "I see something in your eyes, something vicious and I don't like it at all."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I don't want you to do something that will cost you your life and not just your life, but your boy too. I mean I've read those articles before you and I met. You and your son live no differently than those stupid reality T.V. stars. Ignoring each other, while you're off doing something evil and he's off blowing through his money. It's miserable to look at."

"You don't know what I am going through, you don't have a family." He replied in a cold tone. That stung when he said that to me. "Maybe that's why you are doing this."

"No, but you do. When was the last time you even saw him?" I grunted. "You know what, if you aren't going to tell me what is going on with you, then leave, oh and I quit."

I storm off to my room when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Jayden," He said sincerely. "You're right."

I turn around and look at him and his expression has faltered.

"I wanted-look I have a lot on my mind." He explained. "If you want to talk, then find out why Moira was attacked and I'll tell you everything, deal?"

"Deal."

(!)

Paul Copani, a former employee of Bertinelli Constructions owned by, Frank Bertinelli, the mob boss. I've dealt with mobsters worse than him, but that doesn't mean he isn't as ruthless as them. After a little more digging I noticed that Copani wasn't the only one to be gunned down by our mystery friend. A few more mobsters have been found dead by his hand and my guess is that the big guy himself would be next on his list shortly.

Another fun fact about these hits though, is even though the killer made his mark, the bullet wounds are sloppy. He fires enough bullets and just hopes to kill the target.

Bertinelli has business with the Triads, and that means that China White will most likely be involved, but if she was doing the killing it wouldn't be in a public place.

So, they aren't professional murders and neither side has anything to gain by provoking a war. So who is doing the killing?

It's someone who knows the Bertinelli family, but doesn't know or care about the Triads. They aren't afraid to kill, but they don't know how to get to them unless they are out in the open.

Screw it, the database could only tell me so much. So, I dressed in my coat and sword and took off for the Bertinelli manor, hoping to find more answers, but when I got there he was leaving as was his daughter and, oh my god, Queen.

Why is it that whenever I am up to something, he is always there. When they left the manor I was given a choice. Follow Daddy and see where he was going or go after the daughter and make sure she wasn't a target.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and took off after the daughter and Queen. I don't really know why, but I needed to see what was going on with her and Queen. I mean after all, the only way to get to a mobster was through his family.

I followed them a few car lengths behind and they eventually stopped at a little restaurant called Russo's. I parked my bike in an ally next to the building and watched them enter. When I saw the looks on their faces I could tell that they were there because they had to.

Seeing how this wasn't going to be eventful, I took out a fly and flew it into the restaurant. I flew it in discreetly and planted it, just above their table.

As the evening went on, I could tell that they were starting to get along the more they talked. Hell even I was so involved in their conversation I hadn't even realized that an hour had just past by and that the restaurant was closed.

As they talked, I noticed that sparks were in their eyes right up until Oliver's phone rang. After he had paid he stared at her for a moment before speaking.

"I have a confession." He said as he stood up and fixed his jacket. "I didn't want to go out with you tonight."

"That makes two of us." She smiled.

"I'm really glad that I did."

"That makes two of us." She repeated in a soft and gentle tone. "Oliver, be careful with my father."

They cared for each other. I could hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes. They both have so much in common that it was amazing. You have two rich people with all the money and power at their disposal, but once they suffered they know that all the money in the world couldn't fix what had happened to them.

Oliver had lost his father and girlfriend on the island and suffered lord only knows what and Helena lost the only man who ever loved her. That cross on her neck, so small, but so precious, she must have been hurt so bad by his death.

Wait, when did I start calling her Helena and her husband, how did he die. She is so cold and calculated, but she said that she didn't feel like herself until she started talking to Oliver. One someone loses the one they love they change in ways no one can imagine.

So how did he die and how does Helena process her feelings?

I need to look into this.

I was just about to go home when I saw Salvati pull up to the restaurant. I watched from the corner as he and his men entered the building. My fly was still on so I heard everything that was going on between the owner and Salvati.

The owner greeted him, nervously and offered him some Lasagna, Salvati wanted none of that.

"We're not here for food, Mr. Russo. Your payments due." He informed him.

"I've already made my payment this month." Russo reassured him.

"You need to pay again."

I didn't need to hear anymore. I was going to go home, order a pizza and look into Helena, but Lasagna sounds better.

I walked through the door and draw my sword, one of Salvati's thugs aimed his handgun at me, but I disarmed him and brought my blade down his chest. I was ready to waste the other two, but the power was cut and the Hood jumped in.

He disarmed the man holding the waitress hostage and threw a flechette at me. I blocked with my sword, but was knocked onto the ground by gunfire. I looked up at the door and saw the assassin from before aiming his gun at Salvati. Hood jumped in and smacked his gun out of his hands as Salvati made his escape.

I pulled out my gun and fired at him, but missed every shot. I looked over at Hood, who was engaging in hand to hand with the assassin. I grabbed my sword up off the ground and was about to attack, but the Hood sent his fist into his helmet, breaking the visor, and yanked it off revealing Helena Bertinelli.

Hood stopped his movements and Helena took the opportunity to escape, as did I.

After taking that lasagna and leaving a few dollars behind.

(!)

The next morning I made my way to Merlyn's manor and explained to him what I had found out. I told him all about Bertinelli and his thugs, how the hit was meant for Paulie and of course Helena being the shooter.

"So, why would his own daughter want to ruin her father?" He asked as we made our way to the out to his yard. After I had created my new sword, Merlyn wanted me to come over at least once a week to hone my swordsmanship. Today it was fencing.

"My guess is she just grew a conscious." I stated. "She got sick of him squeezing people for what little they had and decided to put an end to his schemes. I mean you should have seen his lapdog last night. The owner said he made his payment, but the greedy bastard wanted more."

"Well, knowing you, you will pay him a visit tonight?" He said as he put his protective helmet on.

"You bet your ass, and then I am going to invest in Russo's, because that lasagna was delicious." I said as I put on my helmet and raised my fencing saber.

We both started going at it fast and swift. I would lunge at Merlyn and he would eventually get the better of me and start to back me in a corner, but neither one of us was about to give in.

"Can I talk to you?"

As I parried, I saw his son, Tommy approach us and he did not look all that happy. Merlyn wasn't giving him the time of day as we continued fencing.

"Dad!" He shouted.

"In case you haven't noticed. I'm a little occupied at the moment." He said as we continued fencing and brushed off his son.

"I just talked to the accountant. He said my accounts were frozen. He said my credit cards were canceled." He stated angrily.

'_What the hell, why would Malcolm do that?'_

"I pay Sandy a king's ransom each year in fees, Tommy." He explained as he continued fencing me. "When it comes to money, if he says it's so, it's so."

"Do you think this is a joke?" Tommy asked, clearly angry at his father's attitude towards the financial situation. Merlyn stopped the fight and yanked his helmet off before staring at his son.

"No, you are." He stated, well at least he is upfront. "Although I must say, your chronic irresponsibility and terminal laziness has lost its humor." Tommy stared at him confused and Malcolm snickered. "You're wonder why now. The better question is, why not sooner."

"It's…It's my trust fund." Tommy replied, still in shock over what his father just said.

"Which is comprised of my money. Oh, excuse me," He grinned before patting his son's cheek. "Was comprised."

He shoved his helmet back on and we continued sparring until his son stormed off in a huff.

"You know, when I said that you should be involved with your son, I didn't mean to cut him off from your life."

"You raise your kids your way, and I'll raise mine my way."

"You never did tell me what your business with Moira was. You did promise me."

"Fine, Moira and Robert Queen were invested into some projects involving the Glades. Moira has been flaky about it since Oliver has come back to Starling and this Hood menace has come into play. That's all."

"What are these plans?" I asked. He was still being vague about his future intentions.

"I told you my plans with Moira, not about my plans with the Glades." He swerved out of the way of my attack and lunged, striking me in the chest. "You want those answers you're going to have to kill the hood."

I stare at him hard through my helmet and I can see his sadistic smirk. He raised his sword and let out a chuckle.

"One more?"

(!)

Salvati was dead when I found him. His neck was snapped like a twig. The other two were dead as well. My guess is Helena was here as well as Oliver. I knew he was here because if that look he gave her last night was as sincere as I thought it was he would never leave her side.

I know he is the Hood, but I don't know why I feel off when I am fighting him. Is it because we're the same, and we're just using our evil methods to do good or is it because I am still haunted by my past.

I thought I had a clear goal for what I was fighting for, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe fighting for the good of others wasn't enough.

After I left the warehouse I went over to check on Tommy. He was a dork, but he did have a good heart. When I found him, he was smiling and eating pizza with Laurel Lance.

They both looked so damn happy together.

The guy had lost everything from his father and yet there he was smiling without a care in the world. Then it hit me like a knife through my heart.

I can't kill the Hood for the same reason I get involved with his business in the first place.

I was alone.

I had no one to confess my feelings to and no one to even care to ask me. I have nothing but my sword and my grudge against the world and it broke my heart to even think about it.

When I got home and I looked at myself in the mirror, I smashed the damn thing and started crying on the floor.


	8. Chapter 8: A Cat Named Ally

**Chapter 8: A Cat Named Ally**

**Authors Note: Thank you all for your support and favs. I hope you enjoy my next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

The air was nippy this morning. I was outside on my patio leaning on the railing as I stared down at the early morning risers. I liked waking up at this time of day.

The sky is a faded ominous blue, the air is cold and it is so quiet and peaceful. It's almost scary.

I looked down at my phone and groaned that the time read four on the dot. There was nothing for me today but some new designs for my new exoskeleton. If I was lucky enough to complete them I would get a huge chunk of funding and I would probably be thanked by the first crippled war veteran who would be lucky enough to wear it.

It was all the good I could do for anyone any more.

I followed the Hood blindly like a dog that chases a car. I wouldn't know what to do if I caught it, but I was having fun just chasing it. It doesn't matter anymore. I can't be the man I was back at Gotham. I am a broken old killer and I am barely into my twenties.

I walked back into my penthouse and noticed that the TV was still on. I must have left it on when I stumbled around drunk last night. The news was on with a reporter going on about a group of thugs getting ready for a drug deal when someone jumped them.

The drugs were still there, but the thirty thousand in cash was gone. The thugs described the assailant to be a slim feminine looking person, dressed in black with a helmet that made her look like an overgrown cat.

'_A Cat-woman?'_ I thought to myself, _'Where have I heard that before?'_

I sat down on the couch and started to think of where I had heard that name. Then it hits me, Gotham. She was a master thief back at Gotham. If there was something she wanted she got it.

I figured that if she was here it must have meant that she had picked Gotham clean, but something didn't add up. I walked into my little room and started to do a background check on the person. My suspicions were confirmed when I checked Gotham's data base.

Last night around the time those dealers were jumped, a bag of expensive gems were stolen from a jewelry store in Gotham. This was either an accomplice or a copycat.

Hood would most likely be busy dealing with the Helena's father and the triads and the cops would be trying like hell to contain the war between the two. This would be the perfect time to pick Starling City clean.

I didn't feel that passion inside of me, but I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night knowing that some poor soul was being robbed on their precious gems.

I would track her down, I wouldn't kill her, but I would stop her if the situation called for it.

(!)

I roamed through the city later that night on my motorcycle just waiting for her to strike. I must have been on my bike for at least a few hours driving by jewelry stores and banks, but came up with nothing.

Maybe I was doing this wrong. This cat was targeting some street thugs last night, while the other cat burglar back home robbed jewelry stores. I decided to relocate and drive down to the bad side of Starling City, the Glades.

I had to admit that being in the Glades made me feel like I was home back in Gotham. Like home the streets were dirty, the corners had dealers and the lack of police involved with the desperate and needy.

I have never been more homesick than I am right now.

I buried those feelings when I heard someone screaming from around the corner. I hopped off of my bike and rushed down the alley to see a young woman being backed into a corner by a few thugs.

I cracked my knuckles and walked towards them, but before they could even notice me a dark, slender figure leaped down in-between them. She flexed her fingers out, revealing ten razor sharp blades on her digits.

She swiped her hand across one thugs face before spinning around and kicking the side of another man's skull. One went down screaming as he clutched his face to stop the bleeding and the other fell down on the ground hard and was knocked out cold.

The last one pulled out a small handgun and aimed it at her, but she quickly pulled out a whip from her belt and swiped it around and lashed the back of his hand. He dropped the gun and suffered a kick to the center of his face and fell back unconscious.

The girl had taken off afraid from what just happened and the Cat turned towards me and flinched when she saw me. I finally managed to get a good look at her now that she was standing still.

She wasn't dressed as bad ass as the hood. Her color was black, her pants were just regular jeans, but they showed off some of her curves, she wore long black combat boots and a leather coat with a grey hood with goggles on top. I could see how she some people could mistake her for a cat.

I couldn't see her face because of her hood, but I could see her eyes. They were beautiful. They were a deep sea blue that glowed under the darkness of her hood. I tried to say something, but she took off before I got the chance to say anything.

"Hey, wait!"

_Why was I following her?_

I took off after her through the alley ways. She was fast and swift. She slid through broken fenced and narrow passages just like a cat. I crashed through a fence and watched her scale up a water pipe and up to a building.

_Who was this girl?_

I pulled out my grappling gun out of my coat and fired it at the edge of the roof and flew up to the rooftop. I was hot of her trail and was trying so hard to catch her that I wasn't even thinking clearly.

She turned around and swiped her claw at my face. I dodged her attack and swiped my leg underneath her and knocked her down. I went to approach her, but she swung her legs around and managed to land a kick to the side of my head.

I fell back and pulled out my sword in order to block her claw attacks. She swatted her small blades at me and I tried like hell to avoid getting cut, but I wasn't feeling like myself tonight. It was at that moment I started to regret coming out tonight.

She managed to swat my sword out of the way with her right claw and lunged towards my face with her left. I just managed to dodge her blade, but she caught my mask and cut clean through it.

I grabbed her by her wrist and flipped her over my shoulder and slammed her on her back. She let out a gasp before I managed to grab her hood and pull it down. Long, shiny red hair flowed out from her hood matching the soft glow of her skin.

She looked up at me and was startled when her eyes met mine. My mask, it must have fallen off when she struck it.

"Jayden Warney?" She asked in disbelief.

I didn't know what to say to her at this point, hell with the way I have been screwing up my life recently, I might as well move to some uncharted island somewhere.

In one swift motion, she placed both of her feet against my chest and kicked me off of her. I landed hard on the ground and looked up to see her running over to the edge of the rooftop. She looked back at me, while pulling her hood up, before jumping off the roof.

I slumped back onto the ground and ran a hand over my face. I just got my ass handed to me by a scrawny little minx whose only crime was defending a poor girl on her walk home. I wiped the dirt from my pants and staggered to my feet.

I was done with this garbage. I don't even know what I was thinking picking up my sword again. I wasn't ready I was still broken from Gotham.

I went home that night and locked my gear up in my chest before sealing it away in the hidden room in my penthouse. I needed more time to think about what I was fighting for.

(!)

I spent the day over at Hunt Multinational, formerly anyways, and was deciding what to do with my new business. I wanted to do something for the people, maybe use it to invest in homeless or the Glades. I was getting ahead of myself though. I would need to hire someone to run this business while I worked for Merlyn and I didn't know anyone in Starling and the people who knew me, hated me. So I was between a rock and a hard place today. Hell the office still looked ransacked after Hunt was attacked by Hood, so clean up was on my agenda today.

I sat down on the discarded chair that was left behind and ran my hands over my tired eyes. I hadn't slept to good last night and today was going to be long one.

"This place looks like it could use a woman's touch."

I looked up and jumped up from my seat when I saw her. The same woman from last night was wandering in my office, only this time she was dressed in a blue blazer and matching skirt. Her hair was in a ponytail as her high heels clicked with every stepped.

"What are you doing here?" I asked bitterly. She gave me a confused, but playful look.

"Why all the hostility?" She asked. "What did I do to deserve such bitterness?"

"You've seen my face last night, that's why." I snapped back as I approached her. She tilted her head and raised her eyebrow. She was provoking me at this point. I let out a shaky breath and lower my head. "What do you want?"

"I was hoping to meet you under better circumstances." She smiled. "I mean, I was a bit of a fan of yours back at Gotham."

This peaked my interests, she was from Gotham, I knew it.

"You know who I am?" I asked. She nodded.

"The Sparrow of Gotham," She said in confirmation. "You're the bringer of justice, the giver of hope and the definition of fear."

"I was, but that isn't who I am anymore." I let out a heavy sigh and wave over to the door. "Just go. I don't know why you came here, but you are wasting your time."

"Like I said I am a huge fan of yours." She giggled. "It was you that taught me how to use my talents for good rather than my own selfish gain."

"Yeah, well like I said, I am not that person anymore." I grunted.

"Then what was all that commotion with the royal flush gang and sightings with you and the Hood?" She asked.

"A mistake, that's all a mistake." I snapped. "Look, just…ugh."

I walked over to the window and placed my hand on the windowsill as I glance down at the building next door. That was the night I had first heard about the Hood and met Oliver Queen. That night I was expecting to start over as Jayden Wayne, but ended up becoming Sparrow once again. I turned and looked over at the woman who was just playing with her nails.

"Hey, what is your name?" She looked up from her nails and smiled at me.

"Alexandra Kinsley."

"The daughter of that famous doctor?"

"Yes, and I don't want to talk about him."

"What about lunch, I was just about to go." I smile.

"Are you buying?" She asked.

"I'm buying."

(!)

I decided to take her to Russo's for lunch. After that crap with Bertinelli I invested in his restaurant and repaired it in no time. Russo got us both a nice table and complimentary wine.

"This is a nice little restaurant." Alexandra said as she sat down across from me.

"Yeah, it reminds of a little pizzeria back at Gotham." I told her as I picked up the bottle of wine and poured her a glass. "The owners always gave me and the homeless kids left overs every night before closing. Russo is just like that, giving what little he has to the unfortunate."

"Is that what you have been trying to do after Gotham?" She asked.

"Sort of, I wanted to create gifts for the greater good, not weapons of mass destruction. So I gave an old friend of mine a call and he set me up here in Starling."

"Merlyn?"

"Yes, I tried to bury my past, but ever since this Hood came to town, I felt this fire build up in my soul and I tried to keep it alive but I just couldn't." I let out a heavy sigh and lowered my gaze to my plate.

"Yeah, I saw it when we had our go last night." She smiled mischievously at me before taking a sip of her wine. "You were slow and sluggish I had almost thought you were a copycat." I looked up at her and she just sat there starring into my eyes. "You have very beautiful light blue eyes."

"They're my fathers."

"What is his name?" I shrugged.

"Got me, he dumped me off when I was a baby on a rich guys doorstep, who would later dump all of his problems on me."

"I heard about that." She said with admiration. "That was your first greatest accomplishment; you brought all of those Wayne Board ass-hats to justice."

"Yeah, and look where it got me." I chuckled bitterly. "Kicked out of my own city, turned into a pariah and now here I am eating lunch with a thief."

"Hmm, I'm not a thief." She said in a calm but defensive tone. Russo brought our lunch over to us and we both thanked him as we started to eat.

"So what are you then?" I asked, stuffing a fork full of lasagna into my mouth.

"A model and stylist during the day and a vigilante by night, my mentor called me Ally Cat."

"Cute, now the reason why I invited you out to lunch in the first place." I cleared my throat for this one. "Why are you here?"

"You invited me out to lunch." She teased. I slammed my fist on the table, earning a few stares from some of the people eating near us. "Why did you follow me?" She looked at me more serious this time.

"I told you I was a fan of yours." She explained. "I wanted to join your group back at Gotham when I was ready, but by the time I was ready you were nowhere to be found." She looked at me like I had abandoned her. "What happened to you?"

"I told you I cursed out for letting all of my weapons fall into the hands of a street gang."

"Which was run by you." She stated.

"There wasn't any evidence linking me to them, but they were my guns and my responsibility." I sighed. "Look, it was personal when I left. I'm not ready to tell anyone yet."

"Fair enough, I still think it is noble that you are using your resources to help the needy, especially with the holidays coming up."

"Yeah, I got a taste of the streets and it wasn't as fun as I make it out to be." I chuckle. "Look, I appreciate how you looked up to me, but let me tell you something right now. That warrior I was is no more. You saw it last night I have no fire left in my soul."

"No, you have fire otherwise you wouldn't have taken up your sword again." She reached over and took my hands in hers. "Maybe you just need motivation."

I looked at her suspiciously. Who was this girl and why did she want me to continue with being Sparrow. Was she looking to get something out of this?

"What do you want from me?" I asked as I pulled my hands away from her. "What do you get out of all this?" She looked down at her right wrist and started to play with a gold bracelet with a little heart gem on it.

"Let me answer your question with another question." She looked into my eyes once again. "What do you see when you look at me?"

I took a moment to think about what she was asking while lost in her eyes. They may have been a different color, but they were the same as mine. They were beautiful, but there was a pain behind them and so much agony.

"I see an unwanted kitten looking for someone to love her." I said as though the words were being spoken by someone else. "What about you, what do you see?" She smiled and took my hand in hers again.

"A lost bird who forgot how to fly."

I chuckled at that.

"No, I didn't forget. I just have nowhere to go."

"And I have people who love me I just can't find someone to love back."

I felt her hands squeeze mine and I suddenly didn't feel alone anymore.


	9. Chapter 9: Merry Christmas

**Chapter 9: Merry Christmas**

**Authors Note: Hey it's Shadow Knight1121…I got nothing, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

"So, how do you go from being a rich boy on a trust fund, to a runaway on the street to a warrior of the night?" Ally asked me as she took a spoonful of strawberry ice cream from the carton. After our lunch we spent the next few weeks getting to know one another. Today she decided to drop by my penthouse and help herself to my ice cream, while I was at work.

"And I would like to know how you broke into my home." I retorted. "I made sure this place was as impenetrable as a fallout shelter."

"I dusted you prints on the keypad to figure out the four digit password, cracked it on the first go." She gloated before bringing her ice cream to her mouth. She ate it delicately with a deep moan. "Then I took the print of your index finger and used it to bypass the fingerprint scanner. Oh, and I stole and duplicated your key." I let out a heavy sigh before joining her at the island.

"I had a friend who taught me how to fight." I explained. She held another dollop of ice cream on her spoon and held it up to my lips. I opened my mouth allowing her to push the spoon into my mouth.

"What was his name?" She asked as I swallowed hard.

I felt a lump in my throat and looked away from Ally and just stared absentmindedly at the counter.

"Too personal?" She asked.

"A little." I grumbled. "Look, my past is my past it doesn't make any difference anymore."

"Okay, let's talk about something else." She said before taking the carton and putting it back into the fridge. "Oh, did you hear that Adam Hunt was killed."

"Yeah, there was a dinner party last night at Queen's mansion." I mumbled. "I guess Hood decided to finish him off."

"Yeah, but I did a little poking around and it turns out that instead of a green arrow it was a black arrow." She explained as she sat down next to me. I looked up at her with a confused stare.

"Black arrow," I whispered more to myself than to her. "Why would…aw hell."

"Are you okay?" Ally asked, stroking the edges of my hair.

"I honestly have no idea." I admitted to her. "Look, I will look into this. In the meantime please do not look into this. I don't want you to get caught up in all of this."

"Jayden…" She chuckled, but I grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a stern look.

"Promise me." I warned her. "Please."

She looked at me with a frantic look in her eyes, but nodded. I let go her shoulders and took a step back before she grabbed me and buried her head into my chest.

"The Queens are having a Christmas Party, do you want to go?" She asked me. "They sent an invitation."

"Sound like a plan." I chuckled. I stroked her soft red hair and felt her hum against my chest, almost like a cat. Maybe this party was exactly what I needed.

Maybe Ally was the answer to my problems after all a real chance to move on with my life.

(Flashback)

We sat in the basement of Franco's Pizzeria, where the owner took pity on the weak and hungry. I was too busy loading my clips with what little bullets we had left. After that rescue mission we had to ditch the van and make our way here on foot.

"So, anyone have any bright ideas?" I grunted out before sliding the clip into my glock.

"I say we cut our losses and get the hell out of Gotham," Mouse said as he nibbled on his extra cheese pizza. "And ditch the cop's kid too."

"Hey, I am older than you," Barbara stated. Mouse was one of the kids who saved me when Barbara and I were under attack. "And I am not going to leave after what I had found on that drive."

"Well we aren't the cops and we aren't an organized crime syndicate!" Jason shouted as she shoved a chicken wing in his mouth.

"And we don't even have enough bullets to load a clip." I sighed, rubbing my hand down my tired face. "Screw it, I say we take off."

"Jayden," Barbara snapped.

"I can't take on Wayne Enterprises on my own," I barked at Barbara. "I am just one person, one person who doesn't know how to shoot a gun let alone take down those rich a-holes, it would take a miracle."

No one said anything for a while after that, I couldn't blame them. Ever since they brought me into their lives I have done nothing but ruin what little they had left. Now, they couldn't even walk the streets anymore and it was all they had left.

"I think I might have found something."

I was broken from my gloomy state and looked over at Barbara who was on a laptop. _I didn't even know she had that._

"What is it?" I asked.

"Someone has been making trouble for the Wayne Board." She explained. "It looks like your father was hired with the task of finding him."

"Who is he?" The gang and I were soon hovering around her, staring at the screen of fuzzy images of a man cladded in all black clothes.

"It doesn't say, but it does say that he took down a few dozen security guards, all hired by Wayne Enterprises and destroyed a shipment of illegal steroids from Japan. It looks like whoever this guy is has made himself an enemy out of Wayne Enterprises."

"Obviously, but why go to the trouble of destroying steroids?" Drew said. Drew was the other kid who saved me. He practically leaned onto my shoulder to see the screen.

"Why don't we go and ask him?" Barbara suggested. I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "It looks like your dad was in charge of finding him look," She pointed at a map in the forest area on the outskirts of Gotham. "In this bundle of trees."

"Then how do we know that Earle hasn't sent an army after this guy already?" Jason retorted. Then it hit me, the whole reason why my dad was killed and why Earle was after me.

"Because my dad was supposed to give Earle the drive," I exclaimed. "He must have protected him and hid him from the board that's why they want me dead to get the drive and kill this guy."

"Seems like a lot of trouble to kill one guy." Mouse remarked skeptically.

"My dad said Earle never liked being made a fool of." I said solemnly. "If my dad died to keep him safe then so be it."

(Present)

Ally arrived at the Queen's Christmas party and I was already preparing to leave. I stood in the parlor with the rest of the guest and mingled as I watched the Queens get together for a photo.

Judging from the lack of smiles on their faces, I could tell that with the exception of Oliver none of them wanted to be here. I would feel bad if I actually gave a rat's ass. I looked over at Ally and smiled.

"Are you having a good time?" She asked me.

She was beautiful in her dark blue, backless dress which was being held up by an easily undoable strap around her neck. I raised my fingers to her shoulder and slowly ran my knuckles down her soft, warm skin. She let out a small hum before wrapping her arms around me.

"I just want to get home and go to bed with you." I whispered softly. "That is all I want for Christmas."

"Aww, you know for a dark and brooding warrior, you can actually be a sweet heart." She swooned. She leaned up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on my lips. Her lips teased mine with the a tingling sensation that made me feel giddy inside.

'_Giddy, how much have I had to drink tonight?'_

I smiled against her lips before pulling away and scanning the rest of the party. The Queens were gone without a trace while Tommy and Laurel talked over by the fire place. It just hit me that Merlyn Senior was nowhere to be found, even though he had called me to make sure I would be here tonight, so where was he?

Just when I was about to get us another glass of champagne, a woman rushed in with a scared look upon her face.

"Everyone, come quickly!" She whimpered. The guest started mumbling in confusion as they went to follow her. We walked into the mansions living room where the news was showing on the TV about a hostage situation.

Thankfully no one was hurt, thanks to the Hood, but no one had seen him leave since they were freed. The witnesses couldn't make out who the kidnapper was but made him out to be a copycat archer, only dressed in black.

The glass in my hand shattered from my vice grip and I immediately rushed out of the living room and out of the mansion. I knew he was on edge recently, but even I didn't think that he would stoop so low. I could hear the clicking of heels in pursuit behind me, but I didn't bother turning to see who it was.

"Jayden, wait…" Ally called out behind me. I couldn't bother to look at her right now. I should have been focused on Merlyn. If I wasn't screwing around with her then maybe I could have seen this coming.

"Jayden!"

"What?" I snapped as I turned to her, giving her a heated glare that was caused by Merlyn. She didn't even flinch when we locked eyes.

"You know what is happening, right?" She said in a defensive tone. "You look like you are ready to commit murder."

"Maybe I am." I inquired a bit harsh than I meant to. I felt horrible when I saw her face become so sad. This poor girl should never have fallen for me. I raise my hands and try to speak more calmly. "Look, I need to tell you this because I care about you. This guy who kidnapped those people, he is one of my many mentors." Her face went from sad to shock in a flash.

"This guy trained you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Now you know why I don't think of myself as a hero," I expressed solemnly. "Look, you're a nice girl, but the people who trained me are not nice. They are evil and as you see they will do whatever it takes to win, no matter what."

"Even if it means taking innocent people to kill a vigilante?" She asked.

"Kidnapping isn't even the worse he can do, his master is my master and he taught us both a lesson to ignore pain, a lesson I failed."

"Failed," She said rhetorically. "You never kidnapped people and used them as bait, or endangered the lives of innocents." She raised her hand to my face and I leaned in to feel her touch. "You talk like this guy is better than you, but he's not, you are the better warrior."

"Still, maybe you should stay away from me for a while until I get this situation sorted out." I explained to her. To my disappointment she shook her head.

"I don't want to run and I am not going to abandon you." She explained. "Besides, with this psycho running around the safest place for me is by your side."

I let out a disgruntled sigh. This girl was going to be the death of me or I would be the death of her. I figured she was right though, better for her to be with me than with Merlyn, so I nodded.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

(Past)

I looked down at the map Barbara printed out and we made our way to the forest outside of Gotham.

After we found this guy's file we also found my dad's quadrants on how to get to him. We made our way to the boat yard and we were lucky enough to find my dad's speed boat. I always wondered why he bought this and now I know. He found a river through the woods that led straight to this vigilante.

After we made our way there we hid the boat amongst the trees and followed the river on foot to whoever this guy was.

"So how do we know he will help us?" Jason asked.

"My dad died to keep his location a secret, maybe if I tell him I am his son he will help us."

We all jumped when we heard a twig snap nearby and aimed our guns in its direction. I heard a wisp in the wind and mistook it for nothing, until Mouse just collapsed on the ground.

"Oh shit!" Drew shouted before firing his gun into the distance.

Before I could get him to stop, a dark figure leaped down and attacked him from behind. Drew fell instantly before pulling out what looked like a blow dart and shooting Barbara in the neck. She fell and I felt anger coursing through me as I started shooting at him.

Jason and I emptied our guns at him, but he hid behind the trees dodging our shots like they were nothing. He moved in close once we were out of bullets and attacked the two of us with a couple of sticks.

Jason pulled out his knife and went to stab him, but the assailant swung his stick and swatted the knife out of Jason's hand before sweeping his leg and smacking him across the back of his head.

I jumped him from behind and wrapped my arms around his neck, but the man swung me over his shoulder and slammed me on my back hard on the ground. Before I could get up, he had me in an arm lock.

"You have to the count of three to tell me who you are before I snap your arm like a twig." The man snarled. My arm felt like it was ready to break so I screamed out my name.

"Jayden Warney!" I shouted. I felt his grip loosen up before feeling something strike the back of my head before everything went black.

(Present)

The first thing I did the next morning was storm to Merlyn's building, making my way to his office. I noticed that today he had armed guards outside of his doors. One of them raised his fingers to his ear piece, most likely informing Merlyn of my presence.

"We're sorry, but Mr. Merlyn isn't-"

I pulled out a riot baton and smacked him across the face before swiping the others leg, crippling him before slamming the end of the stick across the back of his head. The other guard tended to his jaw as he pointed his MP5K at me, but I quickly disarmed him before slamming his head against the wall, knocking him out cold.

I retrieved his gun before busting through Merlyn's door and aiming my gun at Malcolm, who had his bow readied with an arrow aimed at my head.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you after that stunt you pulled last night." I threatened. Malcolm just smirked.

"Because I will have sent this arrow into your skull before you even pull that trigger." He boasted.

"Out with it Merlyn," I barked. "Why did you kill all those people and why did you take hostages last night?"

"A means to an end and those ends have been met." He said it so casually like it was nothing, it made me sick. "After you neglected the Hood for so long I had to take measures into my own hands."

"You know the Hood has been targeting rich, white collard criminals and you killed the ones he left behind. So, why would you kill his sloppy seconds?"

"The same reason I should kill you, failure."

"Damn you, what the hell are you planning?" I demanded. "These men are responsible for harming the glades, how are you involved with them?"

"As I said, kill the Hood and I'll tell you."

"Not going to happen."

"Ok, don't kill him, but it would be ashamed if Ally were too ended up like Walter." He mused, my eye narrowed at him.

"You touch her and y-wait, what did you do to Walter?" I asked.

"Oh don't worry, he is alive." He said smugly. "But like I said, if the Hood isn't dead then Ally could suffer a terrible fate."

"Then I kill you slowly." I growled.

"I deserve nothing less, but please make sure this situation is resolved. You know me Jayden. I will get what I want even after death."

"You really are the scum of the Earth." I tossed the machine gun down on his desk. He lowered his bow.

"I really hope this doesn't affect our work environment." He smiled. "I do value you as an employee."

"Just remember, when I kill the Hood, I will be demanding answers." I turned around and made my way past the unconscious guards and into the elevator.

Once I was inside I took out my phone and called Ally.

"Did you get all that?" I asked.

"Yes, he kidnapped Walter and is threatening me as well." She explained. "If anything happens to either one of us I will have this whole thing set to go out to the police."

"Good work." I complimented.

"Thanks, but are you really going to kill the Hood?" She asked in a very concerned voice. I let out a deep sigh.

"I am hoping I won't have to."


End file.
